TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON 
AT  ST.  HELENA 


MRS.  LATIMER'S  WORKS 


TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON 
AT  ST.  HELENA 


NINETEENTH    CENTURY   SERIES 

The  Last  Years  of  the  Nineteenth  Century 

Spain  in  the  Nineteenth  Century 

Italy  in  the  Nineteenth  Century 

Europe  in  Africa  in  the  Nineteenth  Century 

England  in  the  Nineteenth  Century 

France  in  the  Nineteenth  Century 


MY  SCRAP-BOOK   OF  THE    FRENCH 
REVOLUTION 


JUDEA,  FROM   CYRUS  TO   TITUS 

537  B.  C.  TO  70  A.  D. 


THE    PRINCE    INCOGNITO 
A  Romance 


GEiYERA L  GOURGA  UD 


TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON 
AT  ST.  HELENA 

WITH 

GENERAL  BARON  GOURGAUD 

TOGETHER  WITH  THE  JOURNAL  KEPT  BY  GOURGAUD  ON  THEIR 
JOURNEY   FROM  WATERLOO  TO  ST.  HELENA 

TRANSLATED,  AND  WITH  NOTES,  BY 

ELIZABETH   WORMELEY   LATIMER 

AUTHOR   OF  "FRANCE    IN   THE   NINETEENTH   CENTURY,"   "ENGLAND   IN 
THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY,"  "  RUSSIA  AND  TURKEY   IN  THE  NINE- 
TEENTH CENTURY,"  "EUROPE  IN  AFRICA  IN  THE  NINETEENTH 
CENTURY,"    "ITALY    IN   THE    NINETEETH    CENTURY," 
"SPAIN     IN    THE    NINETEENTH     CENTURY," 
"MY  SCRAP-BOOK  OF  THE  FRENCH 
REVOLUTION."  ETC. 

SECOND  EDITION 


CHICAGO 

C.  McCLURG  &  CO. 

1904 


Copyright 

By  A.  C.  McCLURG  &  CO. 

1903 


Published  Sept.  30, 1903 


R.  R.  DONNELLEY  &  SONS  COMPANY 
CHICAGO 


CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Translator's  Introduction xi 

General  Gourgaud's  Journal  from  the  Day  after 
THE  Battle  of  Waterloo,  June  ig,  1815,  to 
THE  Arrival  of  Napoleon  at  Saint  Helena, 
October  15,  1815 i 

THE  TALKS   OF   NAPOLEON. 

Chapter          L    Early  Years 35 

Chapter        U.    Napoleon's    Rise    to     Fame    and 

Fortune 53 

Chapter  HL  Campaign  of  Marengo  ....  77 
Chapter       IV.    Government  of  France  under  the 

Consulate  and  the  Empire  .     .  85 

Chapter         V.    Bonaparte  Consul 100 

Chapter       VI.    Napoleon  Emperor 114 

Chapter      VII.    Campaigns  of   i8og   in   Spain  and 

Austria 128 

Chapter    VIII.    Domestic  Relations 135 

Chapter       IX.    Campaigns  of  1812-1814  in  Russia, 

Germany,  and  France       ...  154 

Chapter         X.    Elba  and  the  Return  from  Elba  167 

Chapter       XI.    Waterloo 182 

Chapter     XII.    France  after  the  Restoration  .  198 

Chapter    XIII.    Great  Generals  in  the  Past  .     .  207 

Chapter    XIV.    Marshals  and  Generals,  1814-15  221 

Chapter      XV.    The  Art  of  War 229 

Chapter    XVI.    Anecdotes     and     Miscellaneous 

Sayings 243 

Chapter  XVII.    Religion 270 

Index      ....  281 

vii 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE 

General  Baron  Gourgaud      .     .     .       Frontispiece 

Napoleon 35 

Empress  Josephine 70 

Empress  Marie  Louise 105 

Hortense  de  Beauharnais,  Queen  of  Holland  .  140 

Marshal  Ney 175 

Marshal  Soult 210 

Marshal  Massena 245 


TRANSLATOR'S   INTRODUCTION 


Lord  Rosebery,  in  his  admirable  and  most  interesting 
record  of  Napoleon's  life  at  St.  Helena,  which  he  called 
"Napoleon:  the  Last  Phase,"  speaks  thus: 

"The  one  capital  and  superior  record  of  life  at  St. 
Helena  is  the  private  journal  of  General  Gourgaud.  It 
was  written,  in  the  main  at  least,  for  his  own  eye,  without 
flattery  or  even  prejudice.  It  is  sometimes  almost  brutal 
in  its  realism.  He  alone  of  all  the  chroniclers  strove  to 
be  accurate,  and  on  the  whole  succeeded." 

This  journal,  which  consists  of  twelve  hundred  printed 
pages,  was  not  published  until  1898,  and  is  too  prolix  for 
complete  translation.  We  want  to  know  all  Gourgaud 
can  tell  us  about  Napoleon;  we  do  not  care  to  know  what 
he  notes  down  concerning  his  jealousies,  his  sulks,  his 
ennui,  his  perpetual  pity  for  himself.  I  have  therefore 
extracted  from  the  two  volumes  of  the  Journal  (without 
the  help  of  any  satisfactory  index),  almost  all  that  Napo- 
leon said  to  Gourgaud  in  familiar  chats,  about  his  past 
life,  and  his  speculations  as  to  the  future.  I  have  omit- 
ted most  of  Napoleon's  vituperations  of  Sir  Hudson  Lowe, 
and  his  complaints  against  the  English  government,  also 
anecdotes  of  his  bonnes  fortunes,  and  his  constantly  recur- 
ring disputations  with  Gourgaud  concerning  that  follower's 
mother's  pension — a  pension  Napoleon  was  quite  ready  to 
give,  and  Gourgaud  eager  to  receive,  though  he  could  not 
be  prevailed  upon  to  take  it,  on  some  point  of  honor. 

It  is  hoped  that  this  record  of  what  Napoleon  said, 
taken  down  by  one  whose  truthfulness  Napoleon  himself 
vouched  for,  may  be  found  interesting  by  many  who  might 
have  been  wearied  by  reading  the  larger  part  of  this  record, 
although  it  was  kept  by  a  man  who  loved  his  master 
devotedly,  and  who  had  been  attached  to  his  personal 
service  since  18 12. 

Gaspard  Gourgaud,  son  of  a  musician  in  the  king's 
private  orchestra  at  Versailles,  was  born  November  14, 
1783.  His  mother  had  formed  part  of  the  royal  house- 
hold, as  nurse  to  the  Due  de  Berry,  son  of  the  Comte 

xi 


xii  INTRODUCTION 

d'Artois,  and  Gaspard  was  brought  up  as  the  playmate  of 
the  Httle  prince,  who  was  about  four  years  older.  He 
looked  upon  that  prince  almost  as  his  foster-brother,  and 
the  friendship  of  the  Due  de  Berry  never  failed  him — not 
even  when  he  had  become  the  aide-de-camp  and  devoted 
follower  of  the  Emperor  Napoleon.  After  the  Restora- 
tion in  1815,  when  Gourgaud  went  into  exile  with  Napo- 
leon, his  mother  continued  to  receive  from  the  Bourbons 
a  small  pension  for  her  past  services,  and  we  see  in  every 
mention  of  the  royal  family  of  France  in  Gourgaud' s  Jour- 
nal that  great  care  has  been  taken  to  say  nothing  that 
could  hurt  their  feelings. 

On  September  23,  1799,  when  Napoleon  was  First 
Consul,  young  Gourgaud  was  admitted  to  the  Ecole  Poly- 
technique,  whence  two  years  later  he  entered  the  École 
d'Artillerie  at  Chalons.  In  1802  he  joined  the  army  as 
second  lieutenant  in  the  Seventh  Regiment  of  Foot  Artillery 
then  in  camp  at  Boulogne,  and  two  years  later  he  became 
aide-de-camp  to  General  Foucher.  He  distinguished  him- 
self at  Ulm,  at  the  capture  of  Vienna,  at  the  Bridge  of 
Thabor,  and  at  Austerlitz,  where  he  was  wounded.  He 
fought  at  Jena  and  at  Friedland,  received  the  Cross  of  the 
Legion  of  Honor  at  Pultusk,  was  promoted  the  day  after 
the  affair  at  Ostrolenka,  was  then  sent  to  Spain,  and  was 
present  at  the  siege  of  Saragossa;  returned  to  the  army 
in  the  North,  and  was  at  Abensberg,  Eckmiihl,  Ratisbon, 
and  Wagram. 

In  181 1  he  was  sent  on  a  mission  to  Dantzic,  and  in 
July  of  the  same  year  was  chosen  by  Napoleon  to  be  one 
of  his  orderly  officers  (officiers  d'ordonnancé).  Though 
wounded  in  the  Battle  of  Smolensk,  Gourgaud  was  the 
first  to  enter  the  Kremlin,  where  he  destroyed  the  mine 
intended  to  blow  up  the  Emperor,  his  staff,  and  the 
Imperial  Guard. 

For  this  he  was  made  a  Baron  of  the  Empire.  For 
his  heroic  conduct  during  the  terrible  retreat  from  Russia 
he  was  made  Chef  d' Escadron  and  was  appointed  First 
Orderly  Officer. 

At  Dresden  he  received  the  Gold  Star  of  the  Legion 
of  Honor,  and  on  January  29,  18 14,  at  Brienne,  he  killed 
with  a  pistol  shot  a  Cossack  who  was  about  to  thrust  his 
lance  through  the  Emperor.  For  this  Napoleon  gave  him 
the  sword  that  he  had  worn  at  Lodi,  Montenotte,  and 


INTRODUCTION  xiii 

Rivoli.  At  Montmirail  Gourgaud  received  another 
wound;  he  distinguished  himself  at  Laon,  was  made  a 
Colonel,  and  Commander  of  the  Legion  of  Honor,  after 
which  he  was  the  first  to  enter  Rheims. 

At  Fleurus  he  was  promoted  to  be  a  General  and 
made  aide-de-camp  to  the  Emperor.  At  Waterloo  he 
fired  the  last  shots  from  the  French  cannon. 

In  1 8 14,  however,  when  the  Emperor  had  abdicated, 
and  had  been  sent  to  Elba,  Gourgaud,  believing  that  the 
Restoration  would  bring  peace  and  prosperity  to  France, 
returned  to  his  former  allegiance  to  the  Bourbons.  He  was 
cordially  received  by  the  Due  de  Berry,  and  made  one  of 
the  royal  household.  He  did  not  desert  his  post  until  the 
King  had  fled  to  Ghent,  when  the  household  had  been 
virtually  disbanded;  and  Gourgaud,  desirous  to  serve  his 
country  in  his  chosen  career,  returned  to  his  former 
master.  He  was,  as  we  have  seen,  at  Waterloo.  He 
accompanied  Napoleon  after  the  battle  in  his  flight 
to  Paris,  and  was  sent  by  him  to  Rochefort  to  see 
what  prospects  of  escape  to  the  United  States  might  be 
found  there. 

Napoleon,  while  at  Rochefort,  endeavored  to  send 
Gourgaud  to  England,  and  intrusted  him  with  what  the 
French  editors  of  the  Journal  call  "the  immortal  letter" 
to  the  Prince  Regent,  reminding  that  personage  of  the 
hospitable  reception  accorded  to  Themistocles  when  he 
surrendered  himself  to  his  enemies.  Had  Napoleon  had 
any  knowledge  of  the  English  constitution  or  the  English 
character,  he  never  would  have  made  to  the  Prince  Regent 
an  appeal  of  sentiment  ;  but  he  and  his  admirers  thought 
the  allusion  to  Themistocles  sublime. 

At  St.  Helena  Napoleon  said,  speaking  of  Gourgaud: 
"He  was  my  First  Orderly  Officer.  He  is  my  work.  He 
is  my  son." 

Napoleon  was  sincerely  attached  to  the  young  officer; 
his  participation  in  all  the  great  campaigns  from  1804  to 
181 5,  and  his  knowledge  of  the  English  language — sup- 
posed to  have  been  much  greater  than  it  really  was — made 
him  useful  in  many  ways  to  the  Emperor.  "But," 
says  Lord  Rosebery, 

"At  St.  Helena  Gourgaud  was  utterly  out  of  place.  On 
active  service,  on  the  field  of  battle,  he  would  have  been  of  the 
greatest  service  to  his  chief — a  keen,  intelligent,  devoted  officer; 


XIV  INTRODUCTION 

but  in  the  inaction  of  St.  Helena,  his  energy,  deprived  of  its 
natural  outlets,  turned  in  upon  himself,  on  his  nerves,  and  on  his 
relations  to  others.  He  himself  was  in  much  the  same  position 
as  the  Emperor.  The  result  was  that  he  was  never  happy  except 
when  grumbling  or  quarrelling.  To  use  Madame  de  Montholon's 
figure  when  speaking  of  Napoleon,  'His  fire,  for  want  of  fuel, 
consumed  himself  and  those  around  him.'  But  Napoleon  had  the 
command  of  what  luxury  and  companionship  there  was  at  St. 
Helena;  the  others  in  the  little  colony  had  their  wives  and  chil- 
dren; Gourgaud  had  nothing He  was  a  brilliant  young 

officer  devoted  to  his  master  with  an  unreasonable,  petulant  jeal- 
ousy, which  made  his  devotion  intolerable;  and  above  all,  he  was 
perpetually  bored — bored  with  the  islands,  bored  with  the  confine- 
ment, bored  with  the  isolation,  bored  with  celibacy,  bored  with 
court  life  in  a  shanty,  involving  all  the  burdens  without  the  splen- 
dor of  a  palace,  bored  with  inaction,  and  bored  with  himself  for 
being  bored." 

And  yet  we  like  him.  There  were  times  when  he 
showed  good  sense,  and  his  master  might  have  done  well 
to  follow  his  advice  in  his  relations  with  Sir  Hudson  Lowe. 
But  what  we  are  most  grateful  for  is  the  new  view  we 
obtain  from  his  Journal  of  the  fallen  Emperor.  Lord 
Rosebery  says: 

"With  his  abnormal  frankness  he  depicts  himself  as  petulant, 
captious,  and  sulky  to  the  last  degree,  while  we  see  Napoleon 
gentle,  patient,  good-tempered,  trying  to  soothe  his  lonely  and 
morbid  attendant  with  something  like  the  tenderness  of  a  parent 
for  a  wayward  child.  Once  indeed  he  calls  Gourgaud  'a  child.' 
Gourgaud  is  furious.  'Me!  a  child!  I  shall  soon  be  thirty-four! 
I  have  seen  eighteen  years  of  service.  I  have  been  in  thirteen 
campaigns.  I  have  received  three  wounds!  And  to  be  treated 
like  this!  Calling  me  a  child  is  calling  me  a  fool.'  All  this  he 
poured  forth  on  the  Emperor  in  an  angry  torrent." 

Yet  the  impression  left  on  us  by  Gourgaud's  own 
words,  written  in  his  own  journal,  for  his  own  eye,  is  that 
he  was  not  only  a  child,  but  a  provokingly  naughty  one. 
We  would  love  him  were  it  not  that  we  are  keenly  sensible 
how  intolerable  his  constant  loss  of  self-control  must  have 
been  to  the  fallen  and  forsaken  Emperor.  Lord  Rose- 
bery says: 

"The  Napoleon  who  endured  such  scenes  as  Gourgaud  relates 
is  not  the  Napoleon  of  our  preconceptions:  that  Napoleon 
would  have  ordered  a  subordinate  who  talked  to  him  like  this  out 
of  the  room  before  he  had  finished  a  sentence.  What  does  the 
teal  Napoleon  do?    Let  us  hear  Gourgaud  himself.    After  the 


ÏNTRODUCTIOI^  xv 

scene  in  which  he  resents  having  been  called  a  child,  he  says  :  'In 
short,  I  am  very  angry.  The  Emperor  seeks  to  calm  me.  I 
remain  silent.  We  pass  into  the  dining-room.  He  speaks  to  me 
gently.  "I  know  you  have  commanded  troops  and  batteries,  but 
you  are  after  all  very  young."  I  only  reply  by  gloomy  silence.' 
The  insulting  charge  of  youth  is  more  than  Gourgaud  can  bear. 
This  is  our  Gourgaud  as  we  come  to  know  him.  But  is  this  the 
Napoleon  that  we  thought  we  knew?  Not  menacing  or  crushing 
his  rebellious  equerry,  but  trying  to  soothe,  to  assuage,  to  per- 
suade."' 

Strange  to  say,  in  spite  of  Gourgaud's  almost  brutal 
devotion  to  truth,  he  was  selected  by  Napoleon  (who  loved 
mystification,  whose  line  of  policy  was  habitually  deceit- 
ful) to  be  his  agent — in  point  of  fact  his  ambassador — to 
the  crowned  heads  of  Europe,  and  to  his  own  family;  and 
in  order  to  leave  St.  Helena  without  exciting  suspicion 
that  he  had  a  mission,  he  was  to  throw  dust  in  the  eyes 
of  Sir  Hudson  Lowe  and  in  those  of  the  foreign  com- 
missioners. Gourgaud  lent  himself  to  this  deception  as 
he  would  have  lent  himself  to  any  plan  that  carried  out 
the  wishes  of  the  Emperor. 

Piontkowski,  Las  Cases,  and  Santini  had  by  turns  left 
St.  Helena  with  instructions  to  communicate  with  Napo- 
leon's friends  and  family,  but  little  had  resulted  from  their 
missions.  They  were  not  persons  of  sufficient  weight  to 
act  as  agents  between  the  Emperor  who  had  fallen,  and 
other  emperors  and  kings.  But  Gourgaud  was  a  different 
man;  he  had  been  Napoleon's  aide-de-camp,  intrusted 
with  his  most  private  thoughts,  and  occasionally  em- 
ployed as  his  secretary.  If  he  obtained  leave  to  quit  his 
post  at  St.  Helena  without  good  reason,  all  men  would 
naturally  suspect  a  secret  mission.  For  two  months 
before  the  date  fixed  for  his  departure,  the  way  was  being 
prepared  by  a  series  of  bitter  quarrels  with  Montholon,  of 
whose  personal  relations  with  Napoleon  Gourgaud  was 
already  jealous,  and  scenes  took  place  which  amounted  to 
violent  quarrels  with  the  Emperor  himself,  duly  reported 
to  Sir  Hudson  Lowe  by  his  staff  of  spies  at  Longwood. 
At  last  Gourgaud  resolved  to  provoke  a  duel  with  Mon- 
tholon, and  asked  advice  concerning  it  from  Sir  Hudson 

'  I  perhaps  ought  to  apologize  for  such  long  extracts  from  the  Chapter  on 
Gourgaud  in  Lord  Rosebery's  book,  "Napoleon:  the  Last  Phase,"  but  any 
one  who  knows  the  book  will  be  glad  to  read  these  words  over  again,  and 
any  one  of  my  readers  who  does  not  know  it  may  thank  me  for  the  introduc- 
Uon.— -£.  W.  L. 


xvi  INTRODUCTION 

Lowe  !  Considerable  correspondence  on  the  subject  passed 
through  Sir  Hudson's  hands.  No  detail  of  the  plot,  or 
more  properly  of  the  little  comedy,  seems  to  have  been 
omitted.  As  the  Journal  of  Las  Cases  had  been  seized 
before  his  departure  from  Longwood,  the  same  thing,  it 
was  thought,  might  happen  to  that  of  Gourgaud.  This 
accounts  for  the  bitterness  and  ill-temper  that  fill  its  latter 
pages.  When  Gourgaud,  after  he  left  Longwood,  found 
himself  for  some  weeks  associating  with  English  officers 
at  Jamestown,  with  Sir  Hudson  Lowe,  and  with  the  for- 
eign commissioners,  no  doubt  his  conversation  was  in  the 
same  strain.  He  even  attempted  to  palm  off  on  Sir 
Hudson  Lowe  some  cock-and-bull  stories  about  plans  for 
projected  escapes,  such  as  carrying  off  the  Emperor  in 
a  hogshead,  etc.,  which  fables  Sir  Hudson  accepted  with 
all  belief,  and  reported  to  the  Foreign  Office,  where  Sir 
Walter  Scott  subsequently  had  access  to  them,  and 
arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  Gourgaud  was  a  traitor.* 

Meantime,  by  help  of  some  secret  agent,  Gourgaud 
kept  up  an  almost  daily  correspondence  with  Longwood. 
Montholon  writes  to  him,  a  few  days  after  they  had  parted, 
to  all  appearance,  enemies  to  the  death: 

"The  Emperor  thinks  that  you  are  overacting  your 
part.  He  fears  lest  Sir  Hudson  should  open  his  eyes. 
You  know  how  astute  he  is.  Therefore  be  always  on 
your  guard,  and  sail  as  soon  as  you  can,  without,  how- 
ever, seeming  anxious  to  hurry  your  departure.  Your 
position  is  a  very  difficult  one. 

"Do  not  forget  that  Sturmer^  is  devoted  to  Metter- 
nich.  On  every  suitable  occasion  turn  the  conversation 
on  the  tender  affection  the  Emperor  feels  for  the  Empress, 

but  say  Httle  about  the  King  of  Rome Complain 

openly  of  the  affair  of  the  five  hundred  pounds,  and  write 

•  Nothing  could  equal  the  credulity  of  Sir  Hudson  Lowe  when  any  plan 
for  his  captive's  escape  was  suggested  to  him.  Many  years  ago  a  captain  in 
the  navy  who  had  been  in  command  of  one  of  the  ships  on  guard  at  St.  Helena 
visited  often  at  ray  father's  house.  He  would  talk  freely  of  Sir  Hudson  Lowe, 
and  of  his  annoying  and  absurd  precautions.  His  ship  was  sent  to  guard  the 
rocky  islet  of  Tristan  d'Acunha,  lest  any  ship  having  the  imperial  captive  on 
board  should  touch  at  that  island,  which  lies  on  the  route  to  nowhere,  and  is  a 
long  distance  from  St.  Helena.  The  island  had  no  harbor,  and  the  English 
warship  was  saved  with  much  difficulty  in  a  great  storm  from  which  she  had 
no  refuge.  It  was  with  anything  but  blessings  our  friend  would  comment  on 
the  peculiarities  and  vexatious  precautions  of  Sir  Hudson  Lowe.— £.  W.  L. 

'Stiirmer  was  the  Austrian  commissioner;  Montchenu  the  commissioner 
of  Louis  XVin. 


INTRODUCTION  xvii 

an  aggfrieved  letter  about  it  to  Bertrand.  Fear  nothing 
from  him.  He  knows  nothing  of  your  mission.*  Your 
yesterday's  report  reached  me  safely.  It  greatly  inter- 
ested his  Majesty.  Montchenu  is  an  old  émigré,  a  man  of 
honor.  You  must  make  him  talk;  that  is  all.  Any  time 
you  go  into  Jamestown  give  a  report  to  No.  53.  It  is 
most  certainly  our  safest  way." 

On  March  14,  1 818,  Gourgaud  embarked  onboard  an 
Indiaman  going  home  to  England.  On  the  authorities  at 
Jamestown  he  had  made  so  favorable  an  impression  that 
he  was  spared  the  voyage  to  the  Cape,  which  he  had 
looked  forward  to  with  dread.  Sir  Hudson  Lowe  sup- 
plied him  with  funds  in  lieu  of  the  fictitious  five  hundred 
pounds  about  which  he  made  so  much  disturbance,  and 
also  gave  him  letters  to  Cabinet  ministers  in  England, 
speaking  of  him  in  the  highest  terms.  Montchenu,  the 
French  commissioner,  wrote  to  his  government,  and  to 
his  friend  the  Marquis  d' Osmond,  French  Ambassador  in 
London,  saying  to  the  latter:  "You  will  doubtless  be  glad 
to  converse  with  an  intelligent  officer,  who  for  more  than 
ten  years  has  been  attached  to  the  personal  service  of 
Bonaparte.  You  will  see,  too,  that  things  are  not  so  bad 
with  him  at  St.  Helena  as  he  and  his  subordinates  would 
have  us  believe." 

On  reaching  London  early  in  May,  1818,  one  of  Gour- 
gaud's  first  visits  was  to  the  Marquis  d'Osmond.  The 
Marquis  advised  him  to  hold  no  relations  with  the  leaders 
of  the  Liberal  party  in  England;  that  is,  with  Lord  Hol- 
land, Lord  Grey,  Sir  Robert  Wilson,  or  Lord  Brougham — 
all  of  them  admirers  of  Napoleon,  who  compassionated  his 
fate.  Men  who  held  clerkships  under  Lord  Castlereagh's 
government,  and  all  foreign  ambassadors,  tried  to  make 
Gourgaud  talk,  and  if  possible  obtain  from  him  some- 
thing unfavorable   to   his  master,  but   as  this  could  no 

•  This  matter  of  the  £500  proves  that  Gourgaud  did  not  hesitate  to  accept 
an  odious  part  when  it  might  lead  to  what  was  earnestly  desired  by  the 
Emperor.  He  was  apparently  to  dun  Napoleon  for  an  indemnity  due  on  his 
departure,  and  he  was  to  do  it  with  acrimony  and  ingratitude,  laying  aside  all 
delicacy;  and  this  was  to  keep  up  appearances.  We  see  in  this  also  that  Gour- 
gaud was  sacrificing  himself  that  he  might  blindly  obey  the  instructions  of  his 
imperial  master.  The  commissioners,  who  of  course  did  not  know  this, sought 
in  vain  for  some  explanation  of  his  conduct,  and  came  to  the  conclusion  that  it 
was  altogether  unworthy  of  a  man  of  bis  character  and  position.  Stiirmer  so 
speaks  of  \\..— French  Editor. 


xviii  INTRODUCTION 

longer  serve  Napoleon's  purposes,  his  faithful  agent  dis- 
appointed them. 

Soon  Castlereagh's  spies  reported  that  Gourgaud  was 
holding  relations  with  Bonapartists,  that  is,  visiting  leaders 
of  the  Liberal  party,  against  whom  the  Marquis  d' Osmond 
had  taken  care  to  warn  him;  on  November  14,  1818,  he  was 
arrested,  his  papers  were  seized,  and  he  was  sent  to  Cux- 
haven.  Thence  he  went  to  Hamburg,  and  had  some 
scheme  of  going  to  Russia,  where  he  hoped  to  be  well 
received  by  the  Emperor  Alexander.  Instead  of  this, 
however,  he  went  to  Austria,  where  French  and  English 
agents  in  vain  endeavored  to  persuade  him  to  go  to  the 
United  States. 

Gourgaud's  main  pretext  for  leaving  St.  Helena  was 
the  state  of  his  health,  broken  down,  he  said,  by  the 
deadly  climate  that  was  undermining  that  of  his  master. 
Napoleon  was  anxious  that  Gourgaud  should  be  credited 
with  liver  complaint,  from  which  he  persisted  he  himself 
was  slowly  dying.  He  never  suspected  hereditary  cancer 
of  the  stomach,  neither  did  Dr.  O'Meara,  nor  th^  surgeon 
of  the  "Conqueror,"  nor  subsequently  Antomm  rchi,  his 
Corsican  physician. 

Gourgaud  fought  a  duel  with  the  Comte  c  Ségur 
after  the  publication  of  his  most  interesting  boo  on  the 
retreat  from  Russia.  He  also  wanted  to  fight  Sir  Walter 
Scott,  but  had  no  opportunity  to  send  his  challeng  î. 

Early  in  1 821  he  received  permission  to  re i  urn  to 
France,  and  soon  after  being  reunited  to  his  mother,  to 
whom  he  was  always  a  devoted  son,  he  received  naws  of 
the  death  of  the  Emperor.  He  at  once  headed  a  petition 
to  the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  imploring  it  to  take  some 
steps  to  reclaim  the  body  of  the  Emperor,  and  bury 
it  in  the  soil  of  France,  so  that  no  foreigner  might  say, 
pointing  insolently  to  the  spot:  *'Voci  /'  Empereur  des 
Français.  '  ' 

In  the  next  year,  1822,  Gourgaud  married  the  daugh- 
ter of  Comte  Roederer,  with  whom  there  had  been  some 
question  of  marriage  before  he  went  to  St.  Helena,  His 
son,  Baron  Napoleon  Gourgaud,  has  permitted  the  pub- 
lication of  his  father's  journal. 

After  the  fall  of  the  Bourbons  in  1830,  Gourgaud  was 
made  Commander  of  the  Artillery  in  Paris  and  Vincennes. 
In  1832  he  was  appointed  aide-de-camp  to  Louis  Philippe, 


INTRODUCTION  xix 

and  received  other  military  honors.  When  the  young 
Duke  of  Orleans  was  married,  Gourgaud  and  the  Due  de 
Broglie  were  deputed  to  escort  the  young  princess  Hélène 
from  the  frontier  of  France  to  Fontainebleau. 

In  July,  1840,  having  negotiated  together  with  Ber- 
trand the  restoration  to  France  of  arms  formerly  belonging 
to  Napoleon,  Gourgaud  and  Bertrand  placed  them  among 
the  treasures  of  the  crown. 

When  Napoleon's  will  was  published,  some  surprise 
was  expressed  that  no  mention  of  any  legacy  to  Gourgaud 
appeared  therein.  Napoleon  had  carefully  avoided  naming 
him  in  that  document,  for  he  knew  that  Gourgaud  was 
then  trying  to  get  back  to  France,  and  he  thought  that 
any  public  testimony  of  affection  and  appreciation  upon 
his  part  might  embarrass  him.  But  in  a  secret  will  (or 
rather,  testamentary  expression  of  his  secret  wishes)  Gour- 
gaud was  given  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  francs  "in 
recognition  of  his  devotion  and  of  the  services  he  rendered 
me  for  ten  years  as  my  First  Orderly  Officer  and  aide-de- 
camp on  fields  of  battle  in  Germany,  Russia,  Spain,  and 
France,  and  on  the  rock  of  St.  Helena." 

Gourgaud  was  one  of  those  who  in  1840  accompanied 
the  expedition  of  the  "Belle  Poule"  to  St.  Helena  to  bring 
back  to  France  the  remains  of  Napoleon.  "Only  those 
who  loved  the  Emperor  as  I  did,"  he  says,  "can  compre- 
hend what  passed  through  my  heart  when  Dr.  Guillard 
allowed  us  to  see,  through  streaming  tears,  the  mortal 
remains  of  our  hero." 

When  the  body,  on  its  catafalque,  passed  into  Paris 
beneath  the  Arch  of  Triumph,  with  shouts  from  some 
hundred  thousand  voices  of  ''''Vive  T Empereur!  ''  ^  it 
was  Gourgaud,  who  on  its  arrival  at  the  InvaUdes,  laid 
the  sword  of  Austerlitz  upon  the  coffin.  Bertrand  was 
joined  with  him  in  that  sacred  mission,  but  Montholon  lay 
in  prison  at  Ham,  with  the  prince  who  ten  years  later 
was  to  be  the  third  Emperor  Napoleon.  In  vain  Gour- 
gaud had  attempted  to  induce  the  Government  of  Louis 

'  I  saw  that  funeral  procession  in  December,  1840,  and  joined  with  all  my 
heart  in  the  enthusiasm.  It  was  a  day  so  bitter  that  it  was  said  that  three  hun- 
dred English  died  of  colds  caught  on  the  occasion.  A  day  or  two  later  1  was 
nearly  crushed  to  death,  when,  in  company  with  my  father,  1  struggled  to  get 
into  the  Chapelle  Ardente,  and  stand  inside  the  railing  which  separated  spec- 
tators from  Napoleon's  coffin.  1  wrote  an  account  of  this  funeral  in  "France 
in  the  Nineteenth  Century,"  though  1  believe  I  did  not  spealc  in  the  firit 
person.— £.  W.  L, 


XX  INTRODUCTION 

Philippe  to  pardon,  if  only  for  that  supreme  occasion,  the 
man  he  had  once  hated  so  jealously,  and  had  pretended  to 
defy  to  mortal  combat,  but  with  whom  he  carried  on  for  two 
years  and  a  half  a  familiar  clandestine  correspondence, 
and  whom  he  had  received  as  a  dear  friend  and  comrade, 
when,  after  the  Emperor's  death,  Montholon  returned 
from  exile.  They  had  even  collaborated  in  a  book, 
^'Mémoires  pour  Servir  à  l'Histoire  de  France  Sous 
Napoléon,''  which  appeared  in  eight  volumes  in  1823. 

In  1 84 1  Gourgaud  was  intrusted  with  the  armament  of 
the  new  fortifications  of  Paris,  doomed  to  be  destroyed, 
we  are  told,  in  the  present  year. 

After  the  fall  of  Louis  Phihppe,  February  7,  1848, 
Gourgaud  was  made  Colonel  of  the  First  Legion  of  the 
National  Guard,  and  did  good  service  under  Cavaignac  in 
the  days  of  June.  He  was  then  sent  to  the  Legislative 
Assembly  from  one  of  the  departments. 

He  died  July  25,  1852,  having  lived  just  about  long 
enough  to  see  another  Napoleon  established  on  the  throne 
of  France  as  Emperor. 

Here  are  the  instructions  given  by  Napoleon  to  Gour- 
gaud at  the  moment  of  his  departure  as  a  secret  agent 
from  St.  Helena: 

"As  soon  as  he  shall  have  reached  Europe,  he  will  write 
five  or  six  letters,  seven  or  eight  days  apart,  to  Joseph  at 
Philadelphia,  addressed  to  M — ,  merchant,  or  to  the  care 
of  M.  Nego  or  Neyon.  He  will  alternate  these  letters. 
He  will  tell  him  the  true  position  in  which  we  are,  with- 
out making  it  better  or  worse  than  it  is.  He  will  send 
him  copies  of  all  the  papers,  declarations,  or  letters  of 
M — ,  and  will  tell  him  in  each  letter  that  it  is  important 
to  learn  from  American  newspapers  how  he  is.  If  he  ' 
foresees  that  he  will  have  to  remain  long  at  the  Cape,^  and 
if  he  is  free,  he  must  write  to  Cardinal  Fesch  under  cover 
to  Torlonia,  banker  at  Rome.  He  will  also  write  to  him 
when  he  reaches  Europe.  It  would  be  well,  too,  that  he 
should  write  to  Lucien  at  Rome;  and  to  the  Empress, 
Duchess  of  Parma.  If  he  land  in  Italy  he  would  do  well 
to  go  at  once  to  Rome,  where  Fesch  and  Lucien  will  give 
him   advice  as  to  how  he  may  visit  the  family  of  His 

•  Gourgaud. 

'  All  others  who  had  quitted  Longwood  were  sent  first  to  Capetown, 
thence  to  England. 


INTRODUCTION  xxi 

Majesty.     He  might  also  carry  a  little  letter  relative  to 

Madame  Gu Bertrand  might  write  a  few  words 

to  Eugene  on  the  subject  of  our  interests.  These  little 
notes  could  be  placed  in  the  soles  of  his  shoes.  He  will 
put  them  into  the  proper  hands.  From  the  Cape  he  might 
write  to  Eugene  and  Fesch  and  ask  them  to  send  us  some 
of  the  latest  books.  He  will  carry  some  of  my  hair  to 
the  Empress." 

And  when  Gourgaud,  in  December,  1 840,  more  than 
twenty  years  after  his  departure  from  St.  Helena,  once 
more  beheld  its  rocky  shore,  he  thus  speaks  of  the  mis- 
sion confided  to  him  by  his  master,  and  of  the  promise 
he  gave  Napoleon  when  they  parted: 

"This  time  it  is  not  with  despair  in  my  heart  that  I 
am  going  to  land.  I  am  here  to  fulfill  a  pious,  a  national 
duty;  I  am  here  to  keep  my  parting  promise  to  the  Em- 
peror, which  was  that  I  would  accomplish  his  deliverance 
from  his  prison."  ' 

'  When  Gourgaud,  Bertrand,  and  the  rest  reached  St.  Helena  they  were 
shocked  to  see  to  what  a  deplorable  condition  want  of  care  had  reduced  Long- 
wood.  In  my  "Last  Years  of  the  Nineteenth  Century"  I  have  given  a  far 
different  account  of  what  it  is  now,  as  seen  a  year  or  so  since  by  an  English 
lady.  The  place  has  been  purchased  by  the  French  government,  and  placed 
in  charge  oi  a  Frenchman  who  resides  there.— £.  W,  L. 


TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON 

AT 

ST.  HELENA 


Journal  of  General  Baron  Gourgaud  from  the 
Day  after  the  Battle  of  Waterloo,  June 
19,  1815,  TO  THE  Arrival  of  Napoleon  at  St. 
Helena,  October  15,  1815. 


June  ig^  iSij.  The  Emperor  reached  Charleroy  at 
7  o'clock  in  the  morning,  passed  through  the  town,  and 
crossed  the  Sambre.  He  passed  some  time  in  the 
meadow  which  lies  to  the  right  after  crossing  the  bridge. 
There  he  tried  to  rally  a  small  body  of  cavalry,  carbineers, 
etc.     It  was  a  vain  effort!     The  men  who  fell  into  the 

ranks  on  one  side  slipped  out  at  the  other His 

Majesty  ate  something.  His  servants  rejoined  me  with 
those  of  Lariboisière;  my  horse  being  exhausted,  I  took 
one  of  his. 

The  Emperor  told  me  to  give  orders  to  four  companies 
of  pontonniers  who  were  near,  equipped  for  bridge-build- 
ing, to  abandon  their  drays  and  their  boats,  and  to  fall 
back  with  the  horses  and  soldiers  of  their  party  on 
Avesnes.  I  also  hastened  the  departure  of  a  number  of 
peasants'  carts,  loaded  with  wine,  bread,  etc.  They  con- 
tained a  considerable  quantity  of  provisions,  while  in  the 
army  we  were  dying  of  hunger.  His  Majesty,  who  was 
greatly  fatigued,  demanded  a  calèche.  We  told  him  the 
roads  were  encumbered  with  vehicles,  and  that  in  a  car- 
riage he  could  not  escape  from  the  light  horse  of  the  enemy, 
which  every  moment  we  expected  to  appear.  He  then 
remounted  on  horseback,  and  for  a  short  time  we  took  the 

I 


2        TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  HELENA 

road  to  Avesnes  ;  but  after  being  informed  that  there  were 
partisans  of  the  enemy  at  Beaumont,  the  Emperor  decided 
to  go  toward  PhiHppeville.  After  a  time  we  met  some  of 
our  men  in  flight,  who  tried  to  obstruct  our  passage.  His 
Majesty  hesitated  for  a  moment,  but  seeing  no  enemy, 
decided  we  must  go  on;  we  therefore  resumed  our  route. 
With  Saint-Yon,  Regnault,  Amillet,  and  Montesquiou, 
I  formed  a  httle  band,  which  preceded  him.  A  httle 
farther  on  I  met  about  twenty  Red  Lancers  at  full  gallop. 
I  told  them  there  was  no  cause  for  their  terror,  and  I 
made  them  join  us  and  go  on.  At  last,  overcome  by 
weariness.  His  Majesty  reached  Philippeville  almost  alone, 
having  with  him  only  Soult,  Bertrand,  Drouot,  Flahaut, 
Gourgaud,  Labédoyère,  Amillet,  and  two  or  three  other 
orderly  officers.  The  Emperor  dismounted  at  a  tavern  on 
the  Place ,  and  sent  for  the  officer  in  command  of  the 

town We  got  something  to  eat,  and  I  was  told 

that  His  Majesty  was  about  at  once  to  post  to  Paris.  He 
borrowed  the  carriage  of  General  Dupuy,  who  was  in 
command  at  Philippeville,  and  two  other  light  vehicles 
were  prepared.  At  this  moment  the  Due  de  Bassano 
joined  us.  I  asked  Bertrand  if  I  was  to  travel  in  one  of 
these  carrioles.  He  said  I  was  to  follow  on  horseback. 
I  replied  that  my  horse  was  foundered,  and  offered  to  go 
on  the  box  of  one  of  the  carrioles.     He  assured  me  that 

would    be    impossible We   argued   the   matter. 

Meanwhile  His  Majesty  having  drawn  up  the  list  of  those 
who  were  to  go  with  him,  named  me.  We  set  off  with 
post  horses;  as  we  were  passing  through  Rocroy,  a  town 

at  a  little  distance,  at  the  village  of ,  we  overtook 

the  Emperor's  carriage.  We  supped  there,  and  they 
made  us  pay  for  the  supper  three  hundred  francs.  We 
consulted  as  to  what  road  we  had  better  take,  and  decided 
that  for  fear  of  not  being  able  to  get  fresh  horses,  we 
would  take  the  high  road  to  Mézières,  along  which  we 
were  not  recognized  until  we  reached  Rheims. 


GENERAL   GOURGAUD' s  JOURNAL  3 

June  20.  From  Rheims  we  went  on  to  Berry-au- 
Bac,  where  we  breakfasted.  We  held  a  consultation, 
Drouot,  Flahaut,  Labédoyère,  Dejean,  etc.  (Soult  had 
remained  at  Philippeville).  We  all  agreed  that  His 
Majesty  ought,  as  soon  as  we  reached  Paris,  to  go  booted 
and  travel-stained  to  the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  give  an 
account  of  the  disaster,  ask  aid,  and  returning  to  Belgium, 
put  himself  at  the  head  of  Grouchy's  army,  collect  what 
scattered  corps  he  could,  and  then  propose  to  lay  aside 
his  crown,  if  that  should  be  made  a  condition  of  peace. 
We  next  paused  at  Laon,  where  we  were  received  with 
cries  of  ""Vive  r Empereur!"  AU  the  peasants  in  the 
neighborhood  offered  to  defend  this  position.  His  Majesty 
changed  his  carriage.  He  sent  Flahaut  to  Avesnes,  and 
Dejean  to  Guise.  Bassy  stayed  at  Laon,  and  at  last  the 
rest  of  us  set  out  for  Paris,  which  His  Majesty  reached 
about  ten  o'clock,  incognito,  for  he  had  not  been  willing 
to  make  use  of  the  Court  carriages  that  Caulaincourt, 
warned  of  his  arrival  by  a  courier,  had  sent  to  meet  him 
beyond  the  barrier.  The  Emperor,  as  soon  as  he  arrived, 
sent  for  his  ministers,  and  took  a  bath. 

As  for  me,  I  hurried  to  see  my  mother  and  my  sister; 
M.  Dumas  took  me  in  his  cabriolet.  They  had  not  heard 
of  our  disasters,  and  to  avoid  any  questions,  I  ordered 
that  no  one  should  enter  our  door. 

June  22.  The  Emperor — worried  by  all  the  men 
around  him  who  were  afraid  and  who  persisted  in  be- 
lieving that  without  Napoleon  they  themselves  might 
make  peace;  beset,  I  say,  by  these  people,  and  utterly  cast 
down  by  his  great  misfortune — decided  to  abdicate  and  to 
go  to  the  United  States  of  America.  His  Majesty  proposed 
to  me  to  go  with  him,  an  offer  I  accepted  immediately, 

June  2j.  Saint-Yon,  Saint-Jacques,  Planât,  Résigny, 
Autric,  and  Chiappe,  all  orderly  officers,  asked  me  to  see 
if  they,  too,  might  not  accompany  his  Majesty,  wherever 
he  might  retire.     I  did  all  I  could  to  dissuade  them,  tell- 


4        TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  HELENA 

ing  them  that  His  Majesty  would  wish  to  live  like  a  private 
gentleman,  that  he  would  have  no  need  of  them,  and  that 
they  would  only  be  poor,  expatriated,  and  of  no  use  to 
Napoleon.  That  my  case  was  different,  that  the  Emperor 
had  long  known  me,  whilst  of  them  he  knew  hardly  more 
than  their  names.  But  all  wished  to  go,  and  I  spoke  of 
the  matter  to  His  Majesty. 

Jujie  24.  Their  request  was  granted.  The  Elysée 
then  presented  a  very  different  spectacle  from  what  it  had 
done  two  weeks  before.  No  callers,  no  carriages;  .  .  .  . 
officers  of  the  citizen  soldiery  called  Fédérés,  met  in  the 
neighboring  streets,  and  shouted  wildly,  ^'Vive  l' Empe- 
reur! We  will  not  forsake  him  !  "  ....  But  the  Cabinet 
ministers  represented  to  His  Majesty  that  his  presence  in 
Paris  paralyzed  their  orders,  and  that  in  spite  of  his  abdi- 
cation he  was  reigning  still.  At  last  the  Emperor  suffered 
himself  to  be  persuaded,  and  resolved  to  leave  Paris  the 
next  day  (the  25th)  for  Malmaison,  in  order  to  wait  there 
for  passports,  which  had  been  drawn  up  authorizing  him 
to  go  to  the  United  States.  I  went  to  say  good-bye  to  my 
mother  and  sister,  to  Lariboisière,  and  to  Dalton.  I  em- 
braced Fain  and  my  colleagues  in  the  Cabinet.  Bertrand 
gave  me  my  papers. 

June  2j.  At  half-past  twelve  his  Majesty  quitted 
the  Palace  of  the  Elysée.  A  great  number  of  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Paris  came  to  the  gates,  and  shouted  '  '  Vive 
r Empereur!''  His  Majesty,  too  much  moved  to  receive 
their  farewells,  made  his  imperial  carriage,  with  six  horses 
and  an  escort,  leave  by  the  Rue  Saint-Honoré,  whilst  a 
carriage  with  two  horses  belonging  to  Bertrand  the  Grand 
Marshal,  came  to  the  back  of  the  Palace  through  the 
garden.  The  Grand  Marshal  and  the  Emperor  got  into 
it,  and  left  by  way  of  the  Champs  Elysée.  It  was  not 
until  they  had  passed  the  Barrière  de  Chaillot  that  the 
Emperor  alighted  from  the  Grand  Marshal's  carriage  and 
got  into  his  own. 


GENERAL   GOURGAUD'S  JOURNAL  5 

I  was  in  the  second  carriage  with  six  horses  with 
Montholon,  Montaran,  and  Las  Cases;  Mesgrigny  rode 
on  horseback  beside  the  imperial  coach. 

At  half-past  one  we  reached  Malmaison,  where  the 
Princess  Hortense  was  awaiting  us.  His  Majesty  walked 
some  time  with  Rovigo  *  who  had  just  come  from  Paris 
with  orders  from  the  Provisional  Government,  to  take 
command  of  the  Guard,  which  consisted  of  about  three 
hundred  men  of  the  Old  Guard  and  forty  dragoons.  His 
Majesty  walked  a  long  time  with  the  General,  who  did  all 
he  could  not  to  make  his  mission  disagreeable  to  the 
Emperor. 

When  His  Majesty  re-entered  the  château,  he  was 
astonished  to  find  so  few  people  there,  and  said  to  me, 
"Eh  bien!  I  do  not  see  any  other  of  my  former  aides-de- 
camp." I  answered  that  many  people  who  surround  us  in 
prosperity  desert  us  in  adversity.  About  dusk,  six  orderly 
officers  came  from  Paris  to  join  the  Emperor,  who  went  to 
bed  at  eleven  o'clock.  The  same  evening  Generals  Pire 
and  Chartran  came  too,  but  it  was  only  to  ask  for  money. 

June  26.  I  started  for  Paris  in  a  coucou  [a  sort  of 
open  cab]  with  Montholon,  to  arrange  my  own  affairs, 
and  to  say  a  last  farewell  to  my  relations.  I  went  to  the 
Ministry  to  ask  for  a  duplicate  copy  of  my  nomination  on 
June  9th.  I  saw  Marchand,  who  attends  to  such  things, 
César  La  Ville,  Carion,  and  Vital.  All  said:  "Urge  His 
Majesty  to  go  at  once."  Carion  added:  "His  Majesty 
has  done  me  much  wrong,  but  assure  him  that  I  am  entirely 
devoted  to  him,  as  well  as  to  my  country."  I  got  back 
to  Malmaison  at  seven  in  the  evening.  I  found  there  the 
Due  de  Bassano,  the  Duchesse  de  Vicence,  and  Madame 
Duchâtel,  who  were  with  His  Majesty.  Madame  Regnault 
had  also  come  to  say  that  there  was  a  conspiracy  on  foot 
against  the  Emperor,  and  that  Fouché  was  at  the  head  of 
the  plot.     Madame  Walewska  had  also  hastened  thither. 

•Savary..  Due  de  Rovigo,  Ex-Prefect  of  Police. 


6        TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  HELENA 

Generals  Pire  and  Chartran  had  come  back  to  insist  on 
the  settlement  of  their  business,  and  had  obtained  a  note 
which  entitled  them  to  draw  some  money.  During  the  night 
Decrès,  the  minister,  came  to  speak  with  His  Majesty. 

June  27.  There  were  more  visitors.  Flahaut,  Labé- 
doyère,  Bassano,  and  Joseph  came,  as  well  as  Decrès. 
The  day  passed  in  conversation.  Nothing  was  decided 
on.  Pire  and  Chartran  came  back  very  angry  from  Paris, 
the  first  because  he  had  received  only  twelve  thousand 
francs,  the  second  only  six  thousand. 

June  28.  A  report  of  the  near  approach  of  the  enemy 
caused  me  to  make,  in  company  with  Montholon,  a  com- 
plete survey  of  Malmaison.  We  settled  on  what  spot  we 
would  station  our  little  troop.  We  were  all  resolved  that 
the  capture  of  the  château  should  cost  the  partisans  of  the 
enemy  who  might  attack  it,  dear.  The  Emperor  ordered 
me  to  send  out  scouting  parties  of  three  dragoons  each, 
in  the  direction  of  Gonesse  and  Saint-Germain.  Becker 
received  orders  from  Davout  to  have  the  bridge  at  Chatou 
destroyed.  I  went  with  him;  we  made  the  necessary 
arrangements.  The  bridge  burned  all  night.  During  the 
day  we  had  heard  some  firing  in  the  direction  of  Saint- 
Denis.  Madame  Caffarelli  had  returned  from  Paris. 
When  every  one  is  deserting  His  Majesty  she  clings  to 
him.     She  is  a  good  woman.     I  am  very  fond  of  her. 

June  2Ç.  Bernard  gave  me  his  reasons  for  not  wish- 
ing to  go;  he  thinks  they  apply  to  me.  Batri,  the  secre- 
tary, receives  a  pension  of  fifteen  hundred  francs,  but  he 
says  he  will  not  go.  Fain,  who  has  always  shown  much 
friendship  for  me,  gave  me  the  same  advice;  so  did 
Drouot.  I  do  not  know  what  has  become  of  Fleury. 
Lariboisière  has  been  faithful  up  to  the  last  moment.  Our 
uncertainty  continues.  Our  passports  for  the  United 
States  have  not  come.  M.  de  La  Valette  has  come  from 
Paris.  He  tells  me  that  he  is  glad  for  the  Emperor's 
sake  that  I  am  to  accompany  him.     The  enemy  is  draw- 


GENERAL   GOURGAUD'S  JOURNAL  7 

ing  near.  His  Majesty  sends  Becker  to  Paris  to  ask  the 
Provisional  Government  if  lie  cannot  put  himself  at  the 
head  of  the  troops  assembled  around  Paris,  and  crush  the 
Prussian  corps,  which,  knowing  his  deposition,  is  boldly- 
advancing.  The  Emperor  offers  to  give  his  word  of 
honor  that  as  soon  as  this  is  over  he  will  leave  France  and 
carry  out  his  first  design  of  going  to  America.  The  Pro- 
visional Government,  which  was  of  no  importance  as  long 
as  His  Majesty  remained  at  Malmaison,  is  very  far  from 
wishing  to  see  him  at  the  head  of  the  forces.  It  refused 
his  offer,  thus  sacrificing  to  its  private  ends  the  interests 
of  the  country,  and  preferring  to  see  Paris  pillaged  by  its 
enemies,  rather  than  delivered  by  Napoleon.  Becker 
having  come  back  at  a  quarter  to  five.  His  Majesty  decided 
to  leave  for  Rochefort.  In  the  morning,  Résigny  went 
to  the  police  to  get  the  passports.  There  was  one  among 
them  for  Labédoyère,  who  wanted  to  come,  but  was  dis- 
suaded by  his  friend  Flahaut.  The  Minister  of  Marine 
had  sent  orders  to  Rochefort  that  two  French  frigates 
should  be  there  ready  to  put  to  sea;  these  were  placed  at 
the  orders  of  the  Emperor. 

He  left  at  five  o'clock  in  a  common  yellow  calèche, 
with  Bertrand,  Becker,  and  Rovigo.  He  wore  a  coat  of 
maroon  cloth.  The  calèche  drove  out  by  the  little  gate 
of  the  park;  His  Majesty  got  into  it  in  the  little  court  to 
the  left,  on  leaving  the  palace.  The  road  he  proposed  to 
take  led  through  Rambouillet,  Vendôme,  Châteaudun, 
Poitiers,  Tours,  Niort,  and  so  on.  I  got  into  the  voiture 
coupé.  They  gave  me  in  charge  a  hundred  thousand 
francs  in  gold.  I  took  pistols  from  the  stores  of  His 
Majesty,  and  divided  the  weapons  among  those  in  the 
carriages.  I  could  have  fired  sixteen  shots.  Montaran 
gave  me  a  repeating  rifle  in  exchange  for  the  Enghsh 
horse  I  had  captured  at  Waterloo.  Bertrand  told  us  all 
before  starting  to  be  sure  that  we  had  rifles.  He  had  a 
sharp  quarrel  with  Ferdinand,  the  chief  cook,  who  did  not 


8        TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  HELENA 

choose  to  go,  because  he  said  he  had  never  been  paid 
what  he  was  promised  when  he  went  to  Elba.  My  car- 
riage, and  that  of  the  valets  de  chambre  took  the  same 
road  as  the  carriages  of  the  Emperor.  The  others  went 
by  way  of  Orleans,  Limoges,  and  Saintes. 

Before  my  departure,  a  man  named  Stupinski  came 
and  bothered  me  to  take  his  wife  in  my  carriage;  I  re- 
fused, though  she  was  very  pretty;  but  it  did  not  seem 
proper  in  the  situation  in  which  we  found  ourselves. 
However,  the  Pole,  by  applying  afterwards  to  the  Grand 
Marshal,  succeeded  in  obtaining  permission  not  only  for 
his  wife,  but  for  himself  to  travel  in  my  coupé.  It  was 
at  the  moment  when  the  carriages  were  to  start,  and  I  had 
to  permit  it.  The  persons  who  went  by  the  other  road 
were  Montholon,  Résigny,  Planât,  Autric,  Las  Cases,  and 
Chiappe;  and  in  a  second  line  on  the  same  route,  came 
Madame  Bertrand  and  Madame  Montholon.  I  made 
François,  my  servant,  go  with  this  carriage. 

Monsieur  Saint- Yon,  who  was  bubbling  over  with 
ardor  as  long  as  His  Majesty  might  have  been  of  use  to 
him,  deserted  him  as  soon  as  our  departure  was  decided 
on.  He  had  been  to  Paris  with  Autric.  The  Provisional 
Government  had  declared  that  those  of  us  who  remained 
in  France  would  retain  their  grades  and  their  positions. 
He  quitted  Autric  at  the  barrier  when  they  were  returning 
to  Malmaison,  under  pretext  that  they  would  not  let  him 
pass.  I  had  advised  him  not  to  come,  but  he  would  not 
then  listen  to  me. 

Princess  Hortense  returned  to  Paris,  and  the  same  day 
I  bade  Madame  Caffarelli  farewell.  When  shall  I  see 
again  that  charming  woman? 

June  JO.  The  Emperor,  who  travelled  under  the 
name  of  General  Becker,  reached  Rambouillet.  When 
my  carriage  approached  the  palace,  a  servant  stopped  it 
and  told  me  that  His  Majesty  wanted  me,  that  the  other 
carriage  was  to  go  on  to  the  post-house,  and  that  Mar- 


GENERAL   CO  URGA  UD'S  JO  URN  AL  9 

chand  also  was  wanted  at  the  palace.  I  went  to  the  château, 
where  I  found  His  Majesty  very  impatient  to  get  news 
from  Paris,  which  he  was  quitting  with  great  regret.     I 

found  there  Becker,  Rovigo,  and  Bertrand They 

gave  us  supper  with  His  Majesty,  who  being  greatly 
fatigued,  lay  in  bed  till  eight  o'clock  the  next  morning.  I 
related  my  journey  with  Stupinski,  and  spoke  of  the  im- 
propriety of  taking  a  woman  along  with  me,  especially 
one  dressed  in  man's  clothes.  The  Emperor,  on  being 
consulted,  decided  that  she  and  her  husband  need  go  no 
farther.  Bertrand  commissioned  me  to  tell  them  this  bad 
news,  but  I  refused.  Then  he  gave  me  a  note  for  the 
Pole,  telling  me  to  hand  him  one  or  two  napoleons. 

I  picked  out  in  the  library  a  number  of  books,  which, 
after  the  departure  of  His  Majesty,  I  put  into  my  carriage. 
Then  I  gave  Stupinski  the  note  Bertrand  had  left  for  him. 
He  was  furious.  When  he  became  more  calm  I  offered 
him  an  indemnity  if  he  would  go  back  to  Paris.  He 
refused  me  flatly.  So  I  sent  him  to  the  devil.  Hardly 
had  I  left  the  house  before  he  stopped  my  carriage  and 
asked  me  if  I  would  please  give  him  some  small  sum.  I 
handed  him  one  hundred  francs. 

July  I.  His  Majesty  passed  through  Chateau- 
Renaud,  where  he  was  recognized  by  the  innkeeper  at 
the  inn  where  we  dined.  At  Vendôme  the  inhabitants 
did  not  seem  to  me  well  disposed.  When  the  carriage 
that  followed  mine  passed,  some  of  them  shouted,  '  '  Vive 
le  Roi!''  The  Post  Mistress,  Madame  Imbault,  also 
recognized  the  Emperor,  and  showed  me  much  kindness 
because  of  my  attachment  to  His  Majesty.  She  told  me 
that  she  had  lodged  the  Empress,  and  she  thought  that 
"the  poor  man"  (thus  she  called  the  Emperor)  was  to  be 
exiled  to  Valençay.  I  found  she  had  a  letter  addressed  to 
Montmorency,  and  I  wrote  upon  its  back:  "Your  old  com- 
rade Gourgaud  says  good-bye  to  Raoul  de  Montmorency." 
I  reached  Tours  at  half-past  four  o'clock  in  the  morning. 


lo      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

His  Majesty  dined  at  Poitiers;  from  there  he  sent  a 
courier  to  Rochefort;  he  reached  Niort  at  eight  o'clock 
in  the  evening,  and  received  news  that  Rochefort  was 
blockaded  by  the  English.  When  I  passed  through  Saint- 
Maixent  in  the  evening,  people  crowded  round  my  carriage  ; 
we  took  supper  while  waiting  for  fresh  horses.  The 
mayor  came  with  a  party  of  armed  men  to  examine  our 
passports,  and  settled  all  difficulties  on  that  subject.  The 
horses  being  ready,  I  got  back  into  my  carriage,  saying 
that  if  any  one  tried  to  stop  me  on  my  way  I  should 
defend  myself  as  I  would  against  a  highwayman.  At  last 
we  got  off.  ' 

July  2.  I  reached  Niort  at  three  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing. Two  officers  of  ge7idarmene,  General  Saulnier,  and 
Colonel  Bourgeois,  came  to  the  post-house  in  the  fau- 
bourg, where  a  gendarme  had  arrested  me.  They  recog- 
nized me,  and  conducted  me,  secretly,  to  the  Grand  Cerf 
tavern,  where  I  heard  that  His  Majesty  was  at  the  hotel 
of  the  Boule  d'Or.  I  went  to  see  if  he  was  sad.  The 
Prefect,  Monsieur  Busche,  asked  an  audience.  He  was 
received.  The  Emperor  is  undecided  what  to  do.  Mon- 
sieur Kerkadin,  who  commands  all  that  is  to  be  done  in 
the  port  at  Rochefort,  arrived,  and  was  admitted  to  the 
Emperor  immediately.  He  says  that  there  are  two  French 
frigates  ready  to  sail,  but  that  the  roadstead  of  the  île 
d'Aix  is  blockaded.  We  send  word  to  Paris.  His  Majesty 
takes  up  his  quarters  at  the  Prefect's  house.  I  tell  the 
Emperor  that  his  brother  Joseph  has  arrived.  The  offi- 
cers of  the  Second  Regimeijt  of  Hussars  pay  him  a  visit 
in  a  body.  They  offer  to  join  him,  beseeching  him  to 
put  himself  at  the  head  of  the  army,  and  offering  to  march 
on  Paris  with  him.  His  Majesty  refuses.  They  are  much 
cast  down. 

At  half-past  six  His  Majesty  dines  with  the  Prefect, 
Madame  Bertrand,  who  has  just  arrived,  Rovigo,  Beker, 
Joseph,  and  Bertrand.     A  crowd  surrounds  the  Prefect- 


GENERAL   GOURGAUD' S  JOURNAL  n 

ure,  crying,  ""^  Vive  V Empereur!"'  After  dinner  a  sort 
of  council  is  held.  The  general  opinion  is  that  the 
Emperor  should  return  to  Orleans,  where  he  will  find  the 
army.  Lallemand,  senior,  arrives  from  Paris.  At  nine 
in  the  evening  his  Majesty  dictates  instructions  to  me, 
and  sends  me  to  Rochefort,  that  we  may  see  what  chances 
there  are  that  we  may  be  able  to  get  away;  also  to  see  if 
the  road  by  Maumusson  is  free,  and  also  if  we  might  not 
make  use  of  an  American  ship  about  to  sail,  and  go  on 
board  of  her  at  sea,  five  or  six  leagues  from  land,  by 
means  of  a  good  large  sailing  boat.  His  Majesty  told 
me  to  make  the  journey  in  a  carriage  as  before.  Along 
the  road  there  were  pickets  of  twenty  horsemen  stationed 
at  regular  distances;  they  took  me  for  His  Majesty  and 
shouted  "  Vive  I  ' Etnpereur!'' 

Journal   from    Arrival    at    Rochefort    to    Em- 
barkation. 

July  J»,  1 813.  I  reached  Rochefort  at  six  o'clock  in  the 
morning.  I  alighted  at  the  Hôtel  du  Pacha  and  went  at 
once  to  see  M.  de  Bonnefoux,  the  Prefect  Maritime,  to 
whom  I  communicated  my  instructions. 

The  Emperor  arrived  at  eight  o'clock,  and  alighted  at 
the  Prefecture,  where  he  found  me  with  the  Prefect.  All 
the  baggage  was  got  together  as  rapidly  as  possible.  I 
am  to  do  duty  as  aide-de-camp  to  the  Emperor.  At  one 
o'clock  came  Las  Cases  and  Madame  de  Montholon,  who 
had  been  stopped  at  Saintes  and  had  run  some  risk  there. 
My  servant  François,  too,  rejoined  me. 

July  4,  1 81  3.  I  informed  His  Majesty  at  four  o'clock 
in  the  morning  that  these  carriages  had  come  in.  I  break- 
fasted with  the   Emperor.     Planât,'  Autric,^  and  Sainte- 

'  Planat  was  an  orderly  officer  on  the  staff  of  the  Emperor,  who  wished  to 
take  him  to  St.  Helena.  Gourgaud  was  jealous  of  him.  After  the  departure  of 
the  Emperor.  PJanat,  Résigny,  General  Lallemand,  and  Savary  Due  de  Rovigo 
were  sent  to  Malta,  where  they  remained  some  time  as  prisoners,  After 
Napoleon's  death  Planat  entered  the  service  of  Prince  Eugene. 

»  Autric,  another  orderly  officer. 


12      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

Catherine/  who  had  remained  behind,  rejoined  us.  We 
could  see  in  the  offing  two  or  three  frigates,  and  several 
other  ships. 

July  5.  Arrival  of  Prince  Joseph.  All  the  baggage 
is  put  aboard  the  "Saale"  and  the  "Méduse."^  The 
Emperor  consulted  me  concerning  the  organization  of  his 
household,  and  told  me  that  Montholon  and  myself  should 
be  his  aides-de-camp.  He  made  me  make  a  note  of  this 
organization.  He  asked  me  if  I  knew  Monsieur  de  Las 
Cases,  and  what  he  might  be  useful  for.  His  Majesty 
thought  of  making  him  his  treasurer.  I  said  that  he  would 
do  well  at  the  head  of  the  Cabinet;  that  he  was  a  man  of 
much  information,  who  might  replace  Monsieur  de  Bassano. 

July  6.  The  same  cruiser  is  in  sight.  I  went  to  the 
port  with  Madame  Bertrand.  There  is  talk  of  my  being  sent 
to  visit  the  "Bayadere,"  a  corvette  in  the  river  Gironde. 

July  f.  Newspapers  are  received  from  Paris,  which 
announce  the  speedy  entrance  of  the  English  into  the  capi- 
tal. Much  apprehension.  I  reinforce  the  guard.  I 
sleep  at  the  palace.^  M.  de  Las  Cases  insists  that  Napo- 
leon will  reign  again,  and  that  the  Bourbons  will  not  be 
received  in  France. 

July  8.     At  six  o'clock  in  the  morning,  His  Majesty 

•  Sainte-Catherine,  a  relative  of  the  Empress  Josephine,  and  a  page  to  the 
Emperor. 

*  Ponée,  who  commanded  the  French  frigate  "  Méduse,"  offered  to  fight 
the  "Bellerophon"  single-handed,  while  the  "Saale  "(Captain  Philibert)  should 
pass  out.  But  Philibert  refused  to  play  the  glorious  part  assigned  him.  Then 
two  young  naval  officers  belonging  to  the  brig  "Epervier,"  and  the  corvette 
"  Vulcain,"  offered  to  form  the  crew  of  the  little  sail-boat  which  should  convey 
Napoleon  to  the  United  States.  One  was  Lieutenant  Genty,  the  other  Ensign 
Doret.  Both  were  scratched  off  the  navy  list  in  consequence.  Doret  was 
restored  in  1830.  He  was  made  captain  of  a  corvette,  and  was  on  board  the 
"Oreste"  at  St.  Helena  when  the^expedition  of  the  "Belle  Poule"  took  place 
in  1840.  There  was  also  at  the  île  d'Aix  a  Danish  brig,  the  "  Magdeleine," 
which  belonged  to  F.  F.  Friihl  d'Oppendorff,  and  was  commanded  by  his  son- 
in-law,  a  young  lieutenant,  a  Frenchman  named  Besson.  He  put  the  brig  at 
the  service  of  the  Emperor.  There  was  also  the  French  corvette  "  La 
Bayadere  "  stationed  in  the  Gironde.  She  was  commanded  by  the  brave  Cap- 
tain Baudin,  son  of  a  member  of  the  Convention,  who  afterwards  became  an 
admiral. 

^  That  is,  at  the  Prefecture  Maritime.  In  all  the  cities  where  Napoleon 
stopped  during  his  journey,  the  place  where  he  slept  at  once  took  the  name  of 
Palais  Impérial. 


GENERAL  GOVRGAUD'S  JOURNAL  13 

sent  me  to  the  frigates  in  the  roads.  I  consulted  Cap- 
tains Philibert  and  Ponée,  They  again  assured  me  that 
in  the  daytime  the  wind  came  from  the  sea,  and  at  night 
from  the  land,  but  that  the  change  was  not  felt  three 
leagues  from  shore  ;  that  the  English  had  several  vessels 
in  the  Gulf,  and  had  stationed  cruisers  from  Les  Sables  to 
the  Gironde;  in  short,  that  there  is  very  little  hope  we 
can  get  out  to  sea.  I  went  back  to  Rochefort,  which  I 
reached  at  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  I  found  every 
face  full  of  anxiety.  Everybody,  except  the  Emperor, 
was  in  the  greatest  alarm.  Rovigo  told  me  that  His 
Majesty  was  going  to  embark  at  Fouras,  in  spite  of  the 
wind  and  the  surf,  and  that  I  must  not  dissuade  him. 
Nevertheless,  I  told  the  Emperor  the  truth.  At  four 
p.  M.,  we  set  out.  His  Majesty  was  in  the  carriage  of 
the  Prefect.  We  embarked  at  Fouras  in  a  boat  belonging 
to  the  port — the  Emperor,  Beker,'  Lallemand,  Bertrand, 
Rovigo,  and  I — with  more  than  ten  rowers.  Ten  minutes 
after  five  of  that  day.  Napoleon  quitted  France,  amid  the 
acclamations  and  regrets  of  all  the  people  assembled  on 
the  shore.  The  sea  was  very  rough.  We  ran  in  con- 
siderable danger.  A  few  minutes  after  seven,  His 
Majesty  boarded  the  "Saale,"  and  received  the  honors 
due  his  rank,  omitting  a  salute,  which  I  had  told  them 
they  had  better  not  fire.  His  Majesty  saw  the  officers, 
and  talked  with  Captain  Philibert.  We  had  supper.  His 
Majesty  made  me  come  into  his  state-room,  and  asked 
my  advice.  Then  he  lay  down  on  his  bed,  but  made  me 
stay  there  some  time. 

July  Ç.  At  one  in  the  morning  the  wind  changed  to 
the  north,  and  blew  a  gale  till  three  o'clock.  Then  it 
grew  calm,  and  the  Emperor  called  for  me  at  four  o'clock. 
I  told  him  about  the  wind.     The  "Epervier"  cast  anchor 

•  On  June  25, 1815,  by  order  of  the  Minister  of  War,  acting  under  the  Pro- 
visional Government,  Beker  was  charged  to  keep  watch  over  the  Emperor.  On 
June  26  Beker  arrived  at  Malmaison.  June  27  an  order  from  the  Provisional 
Government  commanded  him  to  hasten  the  departure  of  >iapoteon. 


14     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

in  the  roads  at  six  o'clock.  His  Majesty  went  ashore  on 
the  île  d'Aix,  inspected  the  batteries  and  the  fortifica- 
tions. The  inhabitants  of  the  island  followed  him,  crying 
''''Vive  V  Empereur!''  Then  he  came  back  on  board. 
At  nine  o'clock  came  the  Prefect  Maritime  with  papers. 
He  held  a  consultation  with  Bertrand  and  Beker.  We 
soon  learned  that  the  Provisional  Government  insisted  that 
the  Emperor  must  leave  in  twenty-four  hours,  either  in  a 
despatch  boat,  or  with  the  two  frigates,  or  with  a  flag  of 
truce.  At  eleven  o'clock  we  had  breakfast.  Everybody 
was  sad  and  discouraged.  His  Majesty  secluded  himself. 
Opinion  was  divided.  Some  wanted  the  Emperor  to  go 
on  board  the  "Bayadere,"  which  lay  off  Bordeaux,  or  to 
embark  at  once  on  an  American  ship  at  anchor  in  the 
river,  whilst  the  two  frigates  should  go  out  to  sea  and 
draw  off  the  attention  of  the  English  cruiser.  Others 
advised  that  he  should  go  in  a  very  small  boat,  of  the 
kind  called  mouches,  which  was  at  hand.  Others  thought 
the  Emperor  had  better  make  a  stand  on  the  île  d'Aix, 
or  go  and  join  Clausel  at  Bordeaux.  At  last,  in  the  even- 
ing, it  was  decided  to  send  Las  Cases  and  Rovigo  to  the 
English,  to  find  out  their  opinion,  to  ask  if  our  passports 
had  arrived,  and  if  we  could  depart.  Las  Cases,  who 
spoke  English  well,  was  to  make  it  supposed  that  he  did 
not  understand  it,  so  that  he  might  better  find  out  the 
opinion  of  the  people  round  him. 

July  I o.  Return  of  Las  Cases.  The  "Bellerophon" 
followed  him  with  her  sails  set.  We  thought  she  was 
going  to  attack  us  ;  but  no  !  she  came  to  anchor  nearer  to  us. 
She  was  sure  that  the  Emperor  was  on  board  the  "Saale." 

July  II.  Arrival  of  newspapers  announcing  that  the 
King  had  entered  Paris.  The  Emperor  sends  General 
Lallemand  aboard  the  "Bayadere"  in  the  Gironde. 

July  12.  During  the  night  we  send  off  all  the  bag- 
gage to  the  île  d'Aix.  Everybody  on  board  is  very  sad. 
At  a  quarter-past  ten,  His  Majesty  leaves  in  a  boat  for 


GENERAL  GOURGAUD'S  JOURNAL  15 

the  île  d'Aix,  accompanied  by  General  Beker,  Bertrand, 
Planât,  and  myself.  Cries  of  ''Vive  r Empereur!'' 
uttered  with  all  the  energy  of  despair,  rose  from  the 
"Saale"  and  the  "Méduse."  AU  else  was  deep  silence. 
The  Emperor  was  received  with  the  same  acclamations  on 
his  arrival  in  the  island.  He  took  up  his  quarters  in  the 
house  of  the  general  who  was  in  command,  but  who  at 
that  time  was  absent.  The  English  vessel,  the  "Bellero- 
phon,"  came  on  with  all  sails  set.  She  fired  a  salute;  we 
thought  it  was  in  honor  of  the  entrance  of  the  allies  into 
Paris.  His  Majesty  asked  me  what  I  thought:  had  he 
better  put  to  sea  in  a  lugger  {chasse-marée^  or  go  on  board 
the  Danish  brig  which  was  at  anchor  near  the  island,  or 
give  himself  up  to  the  English?  I  answered  that  I  dared 
not  offer  him  my  opinion,  seeing  that  there  were  so  many 
risks  in  each  of  these  directions.  But  His  Majesty  pressed 
me,  and  I  answered  that  I  thought  his  best  course  would 
be  to  give  himself  up  to  the  English  nation,*  among  whom 
he  had  many  admirers,  rather  than  run  the  risk  of  leaving 
home  on  board  a  chasse-marée.  It  is  probable  such  a 
boat  would  have  been  captured,  and  then  his  situation 
would  have  been  far  worse.  The  Emperor  would  have 
been  confined  in  the  Tower  of  London.  Perhaps  it  would 
have  been  better  to  try  to  force  a  passage  with  the  two 
frigates,  or  to  reach  the  '  '  Bayadere .  '  '  Rovigo  was  incHned 
to  try  the  chasse-marée.  We  made  all  preparations  for 
leaving  that  night .  Rovigo  returned  on  board  the  '  '  Saale .  '  ' 
July  13.  During  the  night  there  was  an  alarm  on 
board  the  frigates.     Small  English  sail-boats  fired  shots. 

'The  advice  of  Gourgaud  corresponded,  as  the  event  proved,  with  the 
secret  feeling  of  the  Emperor.  Concerning  Napoleon's  admiration  of  the 
English,  see  an  old  document  published  in  the  "Carnet  Historique  et  Litté- 
raire" (March  13,  i8g8);  "Une  Soirée  à  Sainte-Hélène"  (March  10,  i8ig), 
from  notes  taken  by  Montholon.  "The  English,"  said  Napoleon,  "are  veri- 
tably people  of  a  stamp  superior  to  ours.  .  .  .  If  1  had  had  an  army  of  Eng- 
lishmen I  might  have  conquered  the  world;  I  could  have  gone  all  over  it,  and 
my  men  would  not  have  been  demoralized.  If  1  had  been  the  man  of  Eng- 
land's choice,  as  1  was  that  of  France  in  1815,  I  might  have  lost  ten  battles  of 
Waterloo  without  losing  one  vote  in  the  Legislature,  one  soldier  from  my  ranks. 
1  should  have  ended  by  winning  the  game."— French  Editor. 


i6     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  //ELENA 

His  Majesty  sent  me  to  the  lookout  to  see  what  it  was 
about.  They  told  me  that  there  were  two  English  frigates 
at  anchor  in  the  river  near  Bordeaux,  one  at  Maumusson, 
and  a  ship  and  a  frigate  in  the  Basque  Roads.  At  eight 
o'clock  Savary,  the  Due  de  Rovigo,  arrived.  He  brought 
word  that  the  officers  who  were  to  have  formed  the  crew 
of  the  chasse-marée  were  beginning  to  lose  heart.  They 
said  it  would  be  very  difficult  to  pass  out  if  the  English 
had  their  boats  on  the  watch.  His  Majesty  asked  me  my 
opinion.  I  tried  to  dissuade  him  from  attempting  to  save 
himself  in  that  manner.  At  nine  o'clock  General  Lalle- 
mand  returned  from  his  visit  to  Bordeaux,  and  the  corvette, 
etc.  He  held  many  mysterious  talks  with  different  per- 
sons. Bertrand,  the  Grand  Marshal,  told  me  that  His 
Majesty  had  made  up  his  mind  to  go  to  sea  in  the  Danish 
ship,  whose  captain  (Besson)  had  been  a  French  naval 
officer  of  the  Guard;  that  he  had  just  bought  at  Rochelle 
a  cargo  of  brandy  to  be  loaded  on  his  ship,  in  which  there 
was  a  hiding-place;  that  he  had  all  his  papers,  a  passport, 
etc.  There  were  only  four  sailors  on  board,  and  only 
four  persons  could  accompany  His  Majesty.  I  replied 
that  I  would  never  quit  France  unless  I  did  so  to  follow 
the  Emperor,  and  if  I  left,  it  must  be  with  him.  I  went 
up  to  the  chamber  of  His  Majesty,  who  told  me  with 
regret  that  he  could  take  with  him  on  board  the  Danish 
vessel  only  Bertrand,   Lallemand,   Rovigo,  and  Ali,^  his 

'  Ali,  alias  Saint-Denis,  was  a  native  of  Sens,  and  became  one  of  the 
Emperor's  household  in  1806.  He  served  in  Germany  and  Spain.  He  also 
accompanied  the  Emperor  to  Holland  in  1811.  At  the  close  of  that  year  he 
became  the  Emperor's  second  Mameluke  under  the  name  of  Ali,  and  served 
him  as  a  valet  de  chambre.  In  the  field  he  always  carried  the  spy  glass  of  the 
Emperor  and  a  small  bottle  of  brandy.  In  the  year  1813  he  received  the  rank 
of  captain.  After  having  been  shut  up  in  Mayence,  he  rejoined  the  Emperor 
at  Elba,  and  was  with  him  in  the  campaign  of  1815.  At  St.  Helena  he  was 
especially  charged  with  the  care  of  the  books  and  of  all  dictations.  During 
their  captivity  a  daughter  was  born  to  him,  who  was  still  living  in  November, 
i8g8;  to  whom  Napoleon,  on  the  day  of  her  baptism,  gave  a  gold  chain,  still 
preserved  as  a  sacred  relic  in  her  family.  Saint-Denis  went  back  to  St.  Helena 
on  the  "  Belle  Poule."  In  his  will,  dated  July  6,  1855,  he  left  to  the  town  of 
Sens  a  number  of  things  that  had  belonged  to  the  Emperor.  Pons  de  l'Hérault, 
in  his  "  Souvenirs  de  l'Ile  d'Elbe,"  says  of  Saint-Denis:  "He  was  a  man  of 
fidelity  and  devotion;  the  Emperor  could  entirely  count  on  him.  He  was  at 
St.  Helena  one  of  the  daily  witnesses  of  the  persistent  crimes  by  which  the 


GENERAL  GOURGAUD' S  JOURNAL  17 

valet — that  he  would  much  rather  have  taken  me  than 
Lallemand,  but  that  Lallemand  knew  the  country,  and  was 
besides  a  friend  of  the  captain  of  the  Danish  vessel.  He 
thinks  it  quite  reasonable  that  I  should  not  be  willing  to 
leave  France  unless  I  accompanied  him;  he  told  me  that 
he  was  very  much  attached  to  me,  that  he  had  grown 
accustomed  to  me,  but  that  his  career  was  ended;  that 
when  he  reached  America  he  should  live  there  as  a  private 
gentleman  ;  that  he  should  never  return  to  France  ;  that  in 
America  two  or  three  months  would  be  necessary  to  get 
news  from  Europe,  and  as  much  to  make  the  return  pas- 
sage; therefore,  such  an  enterprise  as  he  had  made  from 
Elba  would  thenceforth  be  impossible.  I  answered  that  I 
feared  nothing  from  the  Bourbons,  having  nothing  to 
reproach  myself  with;  and  that  I  did  not  adhere  to  His 
Majesty  from  interest  or  ambition,  but  because  he  was 
unfortunate;  and  that  no  one  could  suppose  I  was  prompted 
by  any  motives  except  unlimited  devotion  to  so  great  a 
man,  when  defeated  and  deserted.  I  repeated  that  he 
would,  I  thought,  have  done  better  to  go  to  England; 
that  that  noble  step  would  have  been  the  most  suitable  for 
him;  that  he  could  not  play  the  part  of  an  adventurer; 
that  history  might  some  day  reproach  him  for  having  abdi- 
cated, since  he  had  not  entirely  sacrificed  his  hopes.  He 
answered  that  my  reasons  were  good;  that  it  would  be 
the  wisest  thing  to  do;  that  he  felt  sure  of  being  well 
treated  in  England;  that  it  was  also  the  advice  of  Lava- 
lette,  but  that  good  treatment  in  England  would  be  some- 
what humiliating  for  him.  He  was  a  man,  and  could  not 
bear  the  idea  of  living  among  his  most  bitter  enemies; 
that  he  could  not  conquer  this  repugnance;  and  besides, 
that  history  could  not  reproach  him  for  having  sought  to 
preserve  his  liberty  by  going  to  the  United  States.     I 

objected  that  if  he  were  captured,  he  might  suffer  ill- 
English  government  shortened  the  life  of  the  Emperor,  He  devoted  himself 
to  worshipping  with  deep  respect  the  memory  of  one  who  in  his  last  moments 
gave  him  an  imperishable  testimony  of  his  esteem,'"— /^r^wirA  Editor, 


1 8      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

treatment.  He  told  me  that  he  should  be  master  of  his 
fate,  for  in  that  case  he  could  kill  himself.  "No,"  I 
objected,  "His  Majesty  could  not  do  that.  At  Mont 
Saint-Jean  it  might  have  been  all  right,  but  now  it  would 
never  do.  A  gambler  kills  himself;  a  great  man  braves 
misfortune."  The  Emperor  interrupted  me  by  saying 
that  last  night  he  had  had  an  idea  of  going  aboard  the 
English  cruiser,  and  as  he  did  so  exclaiming,  "  Like 
Themistocles,  not  being  willing  to  take  part  in  the  dis- 
memberment of  my  country,  I  come  to  ask  an  asylum 
from  you,"  but  he  had  not  been  able  to  make  up  his 
mind.  At  this  moment  a  little  bird  flew  in  through  the 
window.  I  cried,  "It  is  an  omen  of  good  fortune!" 
and  caught  it  in  my  hand.  But  Napoleon  said  to  me: 
"There  are  enough  unhappy  beings  in  the  world.  Set  it 
at  liberty."  I  obeyed,  and  the  Emperor  went  on:  "Let 
us  watch  the  augury."  The  bird  flew  to  the  right,  and  I 
cried,  "Sire!  it  is  flying  toward  the  English  cruiser." 

The  Emperor  resumed  our  conversation,  and  assured 
me  that  when  he  grew  bored  in  the  United  States,  he 
would  take  to  his  carriage,  and  travel  over  a  thousand 
leagues,  and  that  he  did  not  think  any  one  would  suspect 
that  he  intended  to  return  to  Europe.  Then  he  spoke  of 
the  Danish  vessel,  and  said:  "Bah!  It  could  very  well 
hold  five  of  us,  and  you  must  come  with  me."  I  replied 
that  Madame  Bertrand  would  worry  her  husband  by  insist- 
ing she  should  die  if  he  went  away  and  left  her."  '     His 

'  According  to  Montholon,  Madame  Bertrand,  who  was  a  créole  and  very 
exacting,  made  a  slave  of  her  husband.  She  was  gracious,  charming,  and 
capricious.  Madame  de  Montholon,  in  her  "Souvenirs,"  says  she  was  the 
daughter  of  an  Englishman  named  Dillon,  and  was  niece  of  Lord  Dillon,  and 
that  she  had  been  brought  up  in  England.  Through  her  mother  she  was  a 
kinswoman  of  Josephine;  that  the  Emperor  himself  had  made  her  marriage 
with  Bertrand,  and  had  given  her  a  marriage  portion. 

According  to  Stiirmer,  Madame  Bertrand  was  sister-in-law  of  the  Due  de 
Fitz  James,  and  niece  of  Lady  Jerningham,  who  had  brought  her  up.  On  all 
this,  without  doubt,  she  founded  her  pretensions  to  nobility. 

Captain  Dillon,  an  Englishman  and  a  near  relation  of  Madame  Bertrand, 
was  received  at  St.  Helena  by  Napoleon  October  22,  1816. — French  Editor 

^  Though  Gourgaud  does  not  say  so,  this  speech  convinced  those  around 
the  Emperor  that  he  was  about  to  go  to  America.  The  mission  of  Las  Cases 
and  Lallemand  was  a  blind  intended  to  keep  up  the  idea  that  Napoleon  was  on 
the  point  of  going  on  board  the  English  squadron.— A'.  W.  L. 


GENERAL  GOURGAUD'S  JOURNAL  19 

Majesty  then  said  that  at  Rochefort,  and  at  the  île  d'Aix, 
he  had  proposed  to  Bertrand  not  to  accompany  him,  but 
Bertrand  had  insisted  upon  coming.  Then  he  told  me  to 
let  Bertrand  in.  Our  dinner  was  a  very  sad  one.  After 
it  was  done,  Bertrand  gave  me  two  pairs  of  pistols  to  be 
given  on  the  part  of  His  Majesty  to  Captain  Ponée  and 
Captain  Philibert.  They  thanked  me,  exclaiming:  "Ah! 
you  do  not  know  where  you  are  going!  You  do  not  know 
the  English!  Dissuade  the  Emperor  from  taking  such  a 
step!"  I  returned.  All  our  luggage  was  taken  on  board 
the  Danish  ship  when  the  night  was  darkest.  I  went  to 
the  corner  of  the  island,  near  which  the  vessel  was  moored. 
Las  Cases  and  Lallemand  were  sent  to  the  frigate,  and 
were  thence  to  go,  under  a  flag  of  truce,  on  board  the 
English  vessels.  About  midnight,  our  preparations  for 
departure  were  suspended. 

July  14.  We  saw  our  envoys  with  their  tricolored 
flag  approach  the  English  vessel.  Las  Cases  and  Lalle- 
mand came  back.  His  Majesty  made  us  enter  his  room 
and  asked  us  for  our  opinion.  All  of  us,  without  excep- 
tion, advised  that  we  should  go  on  board  the  English 
ships.  Then  I  remained  alone  with  His  Majesty,  who 
showed  me  the  rough  copy  of  a  letter  he  had  just  written, 
and  asked  my  advice  as  well  as  that  of  Lavalette.  "Like 
Themistocles  .  .  .  ."  He  asked  me  what  I  thought  of 
this  letter  to  the  Prince  Regent.  I  said  that  it  brought 
tears  into  my  eyes.  His  Majesty  added  that  it  was  I 
whom  he  had  chosen  to  carry  it,  and  gave  me  his  instruc- 
tions: I  was  to  hire  a  country  house,  not  to  enter  Lon- 
don in  the  daytime,  and  not  to  accept  any  proposal  of 
his  going  to  the  colonies.  Then  he  dictated  to  me  a 
letter  that  Bertrand  was  to  write  to  the  English  commo- 
dore, when  he  should  send  me  with  Las  Cases  on  board 
his  ship,  as  quartermaster  to  prepare  his  quarters.  He 
dictated  to  me  besides,  a  copy  of  the  letter  I  was  to  carry. 
Then  he  sent  for  Bertrand,  made  him  write  the  letters, 


20      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST  HELENA 

and  gave  me  for  myself  the  rough  copy  in  his  own  hand 
of  the  one  he  was  about  to  send  to  the  Prince  Regent.^ 
As  I  went  out  I  met  Beker;  I  did  not  tell  him  I  was 
going  to  England,  but  I  begged  him  to  see  my  mother  ^ 
on  his  return  to  Paris,  and  to  give  her  news  of  me. 
Madame  de  Montholon  begged  me  to  contrive  in  some 
way  that  she  should  go  on  board  the  same  ship  as  His 
Majesty.  I  took  Las  Cases  with  me,  and  I  embarked  on 
a  boat  taking  with  me  an  usher,  a  page,  and  a  footman. 
We  were  well  received  on  board  the  "Bellerophon." 
Captain  Maitland  made  Las  Cases  and  me  come  into  his 
cabin,  where  we  found  Captains  Gambler  and  Sartorius 
commanders  of  two  corvettes.^  Las  Cases  still  pretended 
that  he  knew  no  EngUsh.*  Captain  Maitland  and  the  two 
officers  did  not  seem  to  doubt  that  I  should  at  once  be 
forwarded  to  London.  Las  Cases  was  enchanted.  He 
heard  all  that  the  English  officers  said:  the  letter  to  the 
Prince  Regent  had  made  a  great  impression  on  them. 
Las  Cases  advised  me  to  write  to  the  Emperor  that  he 
would  certainly  be  well  received  in  England.  I  objected, 
saying  that  I  understood  nothing  of  what  was  said  around 
me;  that  he  on  the  contrary  had  better  write  all  that  to 
Bertrand,  when  the  boat  went  back;  that  as  for  me  I 
should  go  aboard  the  corvette  that  they  placed  at  my 
service.  As  night  fell.  Captain  Sartorius  took  me,  as 
well  as  my  servant  François,  on  board  the  "Slaney,"  a 
corvette  with  four  guns  and  eight  carronades. 

July  i^.     At  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning  we  fell  in 

•  Needless  'to  say  that  this  precious  document  is  reverently  preserved 
among  the  archives  of  the  Gourgaud  i^iVaWy .—French  Editor. 

^  What  proves  that  after  all  Napoleon  had  doubts  what  fate  might  await 
him  when  he  should  have  given  himself  up  to  the  English,  is  that  he  said  to 
Beker,  who  wished  to  accompany  him  on  board  the  "Bellerophon  '  :  "  1  do  not 
know  what  the  English  will  do  with  me,  but  if  they  should  not  respond  to  the 
confidence  1  place  in  them,  people  would  be  sure  to  say  that  you  delivered  me 
up  to  them." — French  Editor. 

^  Gambler  commanded  the  "  Myrmidon,"  and  Sartorius  the  "  Slaney." 

*The  English  were  afterwards  indignant  at  this  dissimulation  of  Las 
Cases,  and  it  is  possible  that  the  opinion  of  him  it  created  in  England  had 
something  to  do  subsequently  with  his  expulsion  from  St.  Helena. 


GENERAL  GOURGAUD'S  JO  URN  AL  2 1 

with  the  "Superb,"  the  flagship  of  Admiral  Hotham. 
Our  captain  went  on  board  of  her,  but  soon  returned.  At 
nine  o'clock  we  had  tea,  at  four  dinner;  at  six  they  sig- 
nalled an  English  frigate  which  had  overhauled  a  Danish 
vessel.  The  wind  being  northwest,  we  tacked.  An  Eng- 
lish sailor  was  flogged. 

Jtily  id,  Simday.  We  saw  the  schooner  '  '  Telegraph .  '  ' 
I  dined  in  the  ward  room  with  the  officers,  who  were 
excessively  polite  to  me.  They  do  not  play  cards,  nor 
even  chess,  on  Sundays. 

July  ij.  The  wind  shifted  a  little.  During  the  night 
a  vessel  spoke  us.  In  the  morning  another  asked  us 
where  Napoleon  was. 

July  i8.     During  the  night  the  pilot  lost  his  way. 

July  IÇ.  Just  as  we  thought  ourselves  near  Ouessant, 
and  were  making  ready  to  double  the  point,  we  found 
that  we  were  south  of  the  île  de  Sein.  We  passed  the 
Bee  du  Raz  and  the  Black  Rocks.  In  the  evening  the 
sea  was  rough;  we  had  a  storm. 

July  20.  We  saw  Ouessant.  The  wind  was  from 
the  north  and  against  us.  At  ten  o'clock  we  saw  a  ship, 
the  "Chatham,"  and  a  corvette;  we  made  signals  to  them. 
At  half-past  two  we  passed  Ouessant  between  the  rocks. 

July  21.     Perfectly  calm. 

July  22.  At  six  in  the  morning  we  sighted  England. 
We  reached  Plymouth  in  the  evening.  At  nine  o'clock 
Captain  Sartorius,  who  up  to  that  time  had  led  me  to 
beUeve  that  he  would  take  me  up  to  London,  lowered  his 
boat,  but  refused  to  take  me  to  speak  to  Admiral  Keith. 
I  reminded  him  that  that  was  not  what  Captain  Maitland 
had  said  to  me.  I  protested  against  this  deception,  and  I 
asked  permission  to  go  up  to  London  and  carry  the  letter 
of  the  Emperor  to  the  Prince  Regent.  Refusal.  I  have 
been  duped.  I  thought  Captain  Maitland  a  different 
man.  Could  I  have  deceived  myself  as  to  English  gener- 
osity?    Captain  Sartorius  has  evidently  no  intention  of 


22      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

returning  to  his  ship.  He  is  going  up  to  London;  he  has 
taken  his  trunk  and  his  portmanteau  with  him. 

July  2j.  The  boat  came  back  at  midnight.  It 
brought  a  note  from  Captain  Sartorius  to  his  First  Lieu- 
tenant, containing  an  order  to  weigh  anchor  and  go  at 
once  to  Torbay.  I  protested  again.  They  started  at 
noon.  We  anchored  at  Torbay.  Again  I  asked  permis- 
sion to  go  ashore.  Refusal.  I  asked  for  a  refusal  in 
writing,  which  was  not  granted  me.  They  hoisted  a 
quarantine  signal  to  prevent  any  communication  with  us. 
They  placed  four  sentinels  to  prevent  any  boats  from 
coming  near  us.  They  made  one  exception,  however, 
for  a  boat  which  brought  a  newspaper. 

July  24.  The  "Bellerophon"  came  to  anchor  at  Tor- 
bay.  I  went  on  board  of  her  shortly  after,  at  eight 
o'clock.  The  Emperor,  who  was  on  board,  made  me 
come  into  his  cabin.  I  told  him  all  that  had  happened 
to  me.  He  told  me  that  Admiral  Hotham  had  sent  an 
officer  who  would  make  a  change  in  the  situation,  and  he 
asked  me  if  I  had  kept  the  letter.  "Yes,  Sire."  They 
brought  in  some  newspapers.  A  great  number  of  people, 
curious  to  see  the  Emperor,  surrounded  the  "Bellero- 
phon." Boats  were  put  off  to  make  them  keep  away. 
I  noticed  that  Las  Cases  was  wearing  the  Cross  of  the 
Legion  of  Honor,  which  he  had  not  had  when  we  parted. 

July  2j.  We  got  some  papers  from  Exeter. 
Madame  Bertrand,  who  had  been  on  good  terms  with 
Captain  Gambler,  got  angry  with  him  because  he  did  not 
choose  to  show  her  these  papers.  He  behaved  somewhat 
rudely. 

July  26.  At  half-past  one  in  the  morning  Sartorius 
returned  from  London.  At  three  o'clock  they  put  to  sea. 
Nothing  had  transpired  about  his  journey.  We  reached 
Plymouth  at  four  o'clock.  Maitland  landed.  During  his 
absence  the  frigate  "Liffey"  anchored  close  to  the 
"Bellerophon."     The  ship's  boats,  with  officers  on  board 


GENERAL  GOURGAUD' S  JOURNAL  23 

of  them,  made  all  the  little  craft  with  curious  spectators 
keep  away.  Maitland  announced  that  he  should  dine  on 
shore  with  the  Admiral.  At  nine  o'clock  he  came  back, 
seemed  much  embarrassed,  and  said  nothing  positively. 
Our  position  seemed  no  better.  We  all  began  to  feel 
anxious  as  to  whether  His  Majesty  would  be  received. 
Las  Cases  had  no  doubt  of  it,  nor  of  the  reign  of  Napo- 
leon II.  He  gave  us  a  great  eulogium  on  the  subject  of 
English  liberty.  He  had  a  sharp  dispute  with  Lallemand, 
who  drove  him  off  the  field.  During  the  night  another 
frigate,  the  "Eurotas"  (Captain  Lillicrap)  took  up  her 
position  on  our  starboard.  The  Emperor  told  me  to  give 
the  letter  of  which  I  was  bearer  to  Maitland,  who  asked 
it  to  carry  it  to  London.  I  then  learned  that  Las  Cases 
being  in  the  boat  which  was  carrying  the  Emperor  on  board 
the  "Bellerophon,"  had  asked  him  to  name  him  Chevaher 
of  the  Legion  of  Honor,  in  order  to  make  a  better  appear- 
ance on  his  landing  in  England.  He  had  put  on  a  naval 
captain's  uniform,  having  been  a  midshipman  before  the 
Revolution.     Vanity  of  vanities! 

July  27.  I  asked  Maitland  why  the  frigates  were 
moored  so  close  to  us.  He  gave  me  very  poor  reasons, 
and  ended  by  saying  it  was  by  order  from  the  Admiralty. 
I  spoke  of  it  to  the  Emperor,  who  replied  that  we  must 
wait  to  hear  from  the  commander  of  the  "Superb." 
Maitland  went  on  shore  again,  and  on  his  return  seemed 
less  embarrassed.  He  told  us  that  next  day  Admiral 
Keith  would  come  on  board.  They  would  not  fire  a 
salute  because  they  had  fired  none  for  His  Majesty.  Many 
boats,  full  of  curious  spectators,  surrounded  the  ship;  one 
among  them  was  filled  with  musicians.  They  were  less 
severe  with  them  than  on  the  day  before. 

July  28.  At  five  o'clock  Captain  Maitland  went 
ashore.  They  told  me  that  I  and  Planât  and  Maingaud,^ 
were  to  be  transferred  to  the  "Liffey."     His  Majesty 

*  A  surgeon  who  bad  been  with  the  Emperor  since  he  left  Malmaison. 


24      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  HELENA 

sent  for  me.  He  had  not  heard  of  this,  and  assured  me 
that  it  was  very  far  from  his  intention  that  I  should  not 
stay  with  him.  Bertrand  pointed  out  to  him  that  the 
Heutenant  had  orders  during  Maitland's  absence  to  take 
me  to  the  "Liffey."  Maitland's  return  is  expected. 
Many  boats  with  ladies  on  board  were  seen  going  toward 
the  "Eurotas,"  where  a  companion  ladder  had  been  put 
over  the  side.  This  made  us  all  very  anxious.  We  were 
afraid  we  might  be  sent  on  board  one  of  these  frigates. 
Maitland  came  back  and  announced  that  Admiral  Keith 
would  soon  arrive,  and  that  Planât  and  the  others  were  on 
board  the  '  *  Liffey.  '  '  He  made  his  way  into  the  Emperor's 
cabin,  but  soon  came  out  again.  The  Admiral  came  at  a 
quarter  to  twelve,  went  in  to  see  the  Emperor,  stayed 
there  from  twenty  to  twenty-five  minutes,  came  out,  went 
up  to  Madame  Bertrand  and  Madame  Montholon,  was 
very  poHte  to  them,  and  told  them  that  everybody  could 
stay  on  board;  that  it  had  only  been  proposed  to  put  some 
on  board  other  vessels  that  we  might  be  more  comfortable. 
We  felt  more  reassured.  Maitland  went  ashore  again  at 
two  o'clock.  I  gave  him  a  letter  to  be  mailed  to  my 
mother.  Las  Cases  seems  to  have  got  a  gold  Cross  of 
the  Legion  of  Honor  which  Marchand  must  have  sold  him. 
We  are  again  made  anxious  by  reports  that  are  flying  around 
us.     In  the  evening  Maitland  returns,  and  seems  gloomy. 

July  2Ç.  It  rains  all  day.  Maitland  goes  ashore  at 
five  o'clock.  He  brings  back  papers  which  talk  of  send- 
ing us  to  St.  Helena. 

July  JO,  Sunday.  Maitland  goes  ashore  as  usual. 
He  brings  back  at  two  o'clock  papers  containing  dreadful 
news.  He  informed  us  that  an  Under  Secretary  of  State 
was  about  to  visit  us,  who  would  bring  us  the  decision  of 
the  English  Government.  Our  depression  was  extreme. 
We  noted  the  goings  and  comings  of  Maitland,  who  at 
last  told  us  that  Admiral  Keith  would  not  come  till  the 
next  day.     We  grew  more  and  more  anxious.     It  is  said 


GENERAL  GOURGAUD' S  JOURNAL  25 

that  His  Majesty  will  be  permitted  to  take  with  him  only 
myself  and  four  officers. 

July  ji.  Maitland  went  ashore  at  six  o'clock.  He 
came  back  at  ten  and  brought  bad  news.  Admiral  Keith 
and  Bunbury,  the  Under  Secretary  of  State,  arrived  at  a 
quarter  past  eleven,  and  went  in  to  His  Majesty,  with 
whom  they  stayed  three-quarters  of  an  hour.  They  had 
informed  him  that  he  must  go  to  St.  Helena  with  his  offi- 
cers, except  Rovigo  and  Lallemand.  The  Emperor 
declared  that  he  would  not  go;  that  his  blood  should 
rather  stain  the  planks  of  the  "Bellerophon";  that  by 
coming  among  the  English  he  had  paid  the  greatest  pos- 
sible comphment  to  a  nation  whose  present  conduct  would 
throw  a  veil  of  darkness  over  the  future  history  of  Eng- 
land. The  Admiral  begged  him  to  write  him  a  letter  on 
this  subject,  and  His  Majesty  wrote  that  he  preferred  death 
to  St.  Helena,  and  that  he  was  not  a  prisoner  of  war.  He 
told  us  afterwards  that  he  would  not  go  to  St.  Helena,  to 
find  an  ignoble  death  there.  "Yes,  Sire!"  we  all  cried, 
"very  ignoble!  Better  be  killed  defending  ourselves,  or 
set  fire  to  the  powder  magazine."  Lallemand  and 
Rovigo,  who  were  present,  wrote  to  the  Admiral  to  invoke 
the  protection  of  the  English  laws.'     A  sad  dinner. 

In  the  evening  Madame  Bertrand  rushed  like  a  mad 
woman  into  the  Emperor's  cabin,  without  being  announced, 
and  made  a  great  row.  Then  she  went  back  to  her  own 
quarters  and  made  a  terrible  scene.  She  tried  to  cast 
herself  into  the  sea.  Lallemand,  much  moved,  spoke  to 
the  English,  and  reproached  them  for  their  conduct.  Mait- 
land, on  his  part,  wrote  to  Lord  Melville.  He  said  he  was 
very  sorry  for  what  had  happened.  He  could  not  have  be- 
Ueved  it.    Lallemand  and  Rovigo  ^  wrote  to  Lord  Bathurst. 

August  I.     Maitland  as  usual  went  ashore 

'  We  know  how  that  turned  out.  They  were  sent  to  Malta,  and  were  long 
confined  in  Fort  Manuel.— /"r^wc/t  Editor. 

'  Rovigo  (Savary)  was,  as  the  English  knew,  the  man  responsible  for  the 
death  of  the  Due  d'Enghien.— £.  W.  L. 


26      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

August  2.  The  Emperor  did  not  breakfast  with  us. 
Madame  Bertrand  on  deck,  got  up  a  scene  with  me  Hke  a 
market  woman,  and  insisted  that  her  husband  must  fight 
me.  She  went  so  far  as  to  tell  him  that  anybody  could 
see  he  was  not  born  a  gentleman.  Maitland  reported  all 
this  to  the  Emperor. 

August  J.  Maitland  went  ashore.  Nothing  impor- 
tant. Boats  are  all  the  time  around  the  ship,  with  men 
and  women,  all  wearing  red  carnations. 

August  4.  At  two  in  the  morning  Maitland  received 
orders  to  have  everything  ready  to  make  sail.  They 
weighed  anchor.  Very  soon  we  learned  that  the  Captain 
had  received  orders  to  go  out  of  the  roads;  that  His 
Majesty  would  not  be  permitted  even  to  cho'ose  the  offi- 
cers who  were  to  accompany  him,  but  that  Admiral  Keith 
would  select  them.  The  Emperor  then  replied  that  he 
would  not  go.  He  did  not  breakfast  with  us,  and  desired 
to  speak  with  the  Admiral,  who  was  expected  on  board; 
but  who  did  not  come.  A  corvette,  the  "Prometheus," 
was  at  the  entrance  of  the  harbor.  We  went  out.  The 
"Thunderer"  and  the  "Eurotas"  followed  us.  The 
Emperor  did  not  leave  his  cabin.  Some  thought  he  had 
poisoned  himself. 

The  Captain  went  on  board  the  corvette  where  Keith 
was;  he  came  back  saying  that  Bertrand  had  also  been 
excepted,  but  that  the  Admiral  would  take  it  on  himself 
to  let  him  go  if  he  wished  it.  Great  hesitation  on  the 
part  of  Bertrand  and  his  wife.  They  seem  inclined  not  to 
accompany  the  Emperor.  His  Majesty  does  not  dine  this 
day,  and  does  not  come  out  of  his  cabin.  In  the  evening 
Montholon  goes  to  see  him.  He  seems  better,  and  laughs 
at  the  anxiety  of  some  people  to  see  him  die.  He  asks  me 
about  those  who  are  to  go  with  him.    I  write  to  my  mother. 

August^.  The  same  escort  follows  our  vessel.  The 
day  is  passed  lying  to,  or  cruising  in  the  channel.  The 
sea  is  rough.     His  Majesty  is  indisposed,  and  we  are  all 


GENERAL   GOURGAUD' S  JOURNAL  27 

seasick.  They  say  that  Keith,  Cockbum,  and  Hull  are 
on  board  the  "Thunderer,"  and  that  they  have  declared 
that  His  Majesty  can  take  only  three  officers. 

August  6.  At  eight  o'clock  a  ship  is  seen  in  the 
offing.  They  think  she  is  the  "Northumberland."  At 
eleven  o'clock  we  are  near  her,  and  all  make  for  Torbay, 
where  we  can  anchor  outside  of  the  roads.  The  Emperor 
sends  a  list  of  the  persons  he  wishes  should  accompany 
him.  I  am  on  it.  My  name  is  the  fourth.  Bertrand 
carries  it  to  the  Admiral,  with  His  Majesty's  orders  to 
insist  on  having  me.  When  he  comes  back  he  brings 
word  that  the  English  do  not  choose  I  should  go,  but  the 
Emperor  insists.  Keith,  Cockburn,  and  Bunbury  come 
and  interview  His  Majesty,  who  protests  against  the  treat- 
ment he  is  made  to  suffer.  He  proposes  to  consider  Las 
Cases  as  his  secretary,  and  then  I  can  make  one  of  the 
three  officers.  The  Admirals  consult  together  and  decide 
on  nothing.  They  give  us  belts,  each  containing  sixteen 
thousand  francs.  Montholon,  urged  by  his  wife,  goes  to 
the  Emperor  and  advises  him  not  to  take  Madame  Ber- 
trand. His  Majesty's  indecision  increases.  Will  Bertrand 
go — or  will  he  not  go? 

August  7.  Las  Cases  goes  at  eight  o'clock  to  see  the 
Admiral.  They  make  him  take  off  his  sword  and  tell  all 
of  us  to  give  up  our  arms.  We  murmur  at  this,  for  it 
seems  an  increase  of  severity.  His  Majesty  still  hesitates 
about  taking  Bertrand,  because  of  his  wife,  but  they  use 
their  influence  with  him,  and  in  the  end  he  consents  to 
take  them. 

Cockburn  came  at  noon  with  a  commissioner;  he 
announced  that  we  were  about  to  be  embarked  on  the 
"Northumberland."  The  commissioner  looked  after  the 
transportation  of  our  trunks,  and  examined  them.'  None 
of  us  chose  to  witness  this  proceeding,  at  which  Cockburn 
was   present;    eighty   thousand  francs  belonging  to  His 

'  While  this  was  going  on  an  Englishman,  Mr.  Guerry,  sent  some  fruit  to 
the  Emperor.— /'rtfMcA  Editor. 


28      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  HELENA 

Majesty  was  sequestrated.  I  begged  the  Admiral  to  let 
me  have  my  servant.  He  refused,  saying:  "Just  see 
these  famous  French  officers;  they  cannot  do  without  an 
attendant  !  '  ' 

At  two  o'clock  His  Majesty  took  leave  of  Rovigo  and 
Lallemand.  He  refused  to  take  back  the  belt  that  he  had 
intrusted  to  the  former,  and  gave  to  the  latter  all  that  was 
his  on  board  the  Danish  ship,  which  was  worth  probably 
thirty  thousand  francs.  He  offered  a  snuff-box  to 
Maitland,  who  declined  it;  gave  a  pair  of  pistols  to  the 
Captain  of  Marines,  and  the  same  to  his  lieutenant.  We 
all  embarked  on  board  a  launch.  Bertrand,  the  Admiral, 
Montholon,  Las  Cases,  myself,  Madame  Bertrand, 
Madame  de  Montholon,  and  finally  the  Emperor.  When 
we  reached  the  "Northumberland,"  the  crew  were  all  on 
deck.  His  Majesty  bowed  and  said  a  few  words  to 
several  of  the  officers.  A  boat  full  of  spectators  was  run 
down  by  a  cutter,  and  several  persons  perished.  Before 
dinner  the  Emperor  had  some  conversation  with  Mr. 
Littleton  and  Lord  Lowther,  members  of  Parliament.'  At 
seven  o'clock  we  all  dined  together.  Then  we  played  at 
vingt-et-un  and  went  to  bed  at  eleven  o'clock. 

August  8.  The  sea  was  rough.  His  Majesty  was 
sick.  I  slept  in  the  big  cabin.  Admiral  Cockburn^  and 
Bingham^  were  very  polite,  and  talked  much  with  me. 

^  On  board  the  "  Northumberland  "  when  the  Emperor  arrived  there  were 
two  other  members  of  Parliament,  Messrs.  Stanley  and  Hutchinson,  both 
belonging  to  Lord  Castlereagh's  party. 

'Cockburn  was  the  custodian  of  Napoleon  until  the  arrival  of  Sir  Hudson 
Lowe.  He  had  a  secretary  named  Glower,  who  wrote  some  reminiscences  of 
the  Emperor.  "Cockburn  could  not  understand  the  devotion  and  fidelity 
shown  to  the  Emperor,"  says  Madame  de  Montholon  in  a  letter  written  July  14, 
1816,  "  by  the  Bertrands,  Gourgaud,  and  Montholon.  These  persons  continued 
attached  to  him  in  a  way  no  Englishman  could  understand  or  even  witness 
without  a  profound  feeling  of  disgust  and  contempt."  And  the  Russian  com- 
missioner at  St.  Helena,  Balmain,  writing  on  September  8,  1816,  speaks  with 
surprise  of  the  fascination  Napoleon  still  retained  over  his  followers.  Such 
devotion,  which  strikes  and  astonishes  foreigners,  is  natural  in  France.— French 
Editor. 

*Sir  George  Bingham,  Colonel  of  the  Fifty-third  Infantry,  was  made  a 
General,  April  15,  1816,  and  as  such,  under  Sir  Hudson  Lowe,  commanded  the 
camp  at  Longwood.  In  May,  1819,  he  sent  in  his  resignation,  and  returned  to 
Europe. 


GENERAL   COURGAUD'S  JOURNAL  29 

The  Voyage. 

On  August  9,  l8i5,the  "Northumberland,"  '  with  her  escort 
of  smaller  ships,  shaped  her  course  for  St.  Helena.  The  voyage 
lasted  until  October  14 — two  months  and  five  days.  The  "Nor- 
thumberland" -  was  not  in  good  condition,  and  had  to  go  into  dock 
when  she  returned  to  England;  her  crew,  like  Kipling's  "Rowers," 
were  bitterly  disappointed  when,  on  entering  Torbay  after  a  long 
cruise  in  Southern  seas,  they  found  they  were  not  to  be  paid  off, 
were  not  even  to  land  or  take  in  fresh  supplies  of  water  and 
provisions. 

"Last  night  ye  swore  our  voyage  was  done, 
But  seaward  still  we  go," 
was  the  cry  of  their  hearts,  and  there  was  mutiny  on  board  during 
the  whole  voyage.  It  must  have  been  an  anxious  time  for  the 
commander  and  his  officers.  Gourgaud  kept  his  daily  journal; 
but  from  this  time  it  is  chiefly  a  report  of  the  ship's  latitude  and 
longitude,  the  state  of  the  wind,  and  a  record  of  the  thermometer. 
Here  and  there,  however,  there  are  passages  of  interest,  as: 

August  10.  His  Majesty  did  not  leave  his  cabin;  he 
sent  for  me  and  said  to  me  that  he  had  better  have  stayed 
in  Egypt,  that  he  could  have  established  himself  there. 
Arabia,  he  said,  needed  a  man.  "With  the  French  in 
reserve,  and  the  Arabs  as  auxiliaries,  I  should  have  been 
master  of  the  Orient.  I  should  have  taken  possession  of 
India." 

August  75.  His  Majesty  spoke  to  me  of  his  other 
birthdays.  Oh,  how  different!  ....  After  dinner 
when,  as  usual,  His  Majesty  left  the  table  to  go  on  deck 
with  Bertrand  and  Las  Cases,  we  drank  his  health.  In 
the  evening,  as  usual,  we  played  vingt-et-un.  The  Em- 
peror, who  on  other  nights  always  lost,  won  that  evening 
eighty  napoleons.     It  was  his  birthday. 

'The  "Northumberland"  was  an  80-gun  ship,  carrying  the  pennant  of 
Admiral  Cocicburn.  She  was  commanded  by  Captain  Ross,  the  Admiral's 
brother-in-law.  Her  attendants  were  the  "  Havanna,"  a  frigate  of  44  guns, 
Captain  Hamilton;  the  "Weasel,"  a  36-gun  frigate;  the  "Eurotas,"  the  "Squir- 
rel," and  the  "Peruvian";  also  the  "Grifhn"  (Captain  Wright).  Montholon.in  his 
"Souvenirs,"  has  given  us  conversations  with  this  officer,  who  he  says  bears 
a  historic  nAtne.— French  Editor. 

'The  "Northumberland"  was  in  bad  condition  throughout.  When  1  was 
a  little  girl  I  was  given  a  big  piece  of  dry-rot  that  came  out  of  her.— .£.  W.  L, 


30      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  HELENA 

August  ly.  One  day  is  like  another;  the  Emperor 
gets  up  at  half-past  eight,  talks  with  one  or  two  of  us; 
gets  dressed.  At  three  o'clock  he  goes  into  the  main 
cabin,  and  plays  chess  there  with  me  or  Montholon,  until 
four  o'clock;  walks  until  five;  at  half -past  five  dinner; 
then  walks  till  seven,  and  plays  vt?igt-ei-un  till  ten  o'clock. 

August  ji.  His  Majesty  wishes  to  learn  English,  and 
says  he  shall  soon  know  it  after  taking  a  few  lessons  from 
Las  Cases. 

They  did  not  land  at  Madeira,  though  the  ship  lay  to  off  one 
of  the  outlying  islands,  and  took  in  fruit,  wine,  and  water.  With 
so  mutinous  a  crew  the  Admiral  was  probably  more  afraid  of  deser- 
tions among  his  men  than  of  the  escape  of  his  captives. 

September  8.  Whilst  I  was  in  His  Majesty's  cabin  he 
got  me  to  measure  his  height.  It  was  exactly  five  feet 
two  inches  and  a  half.'  We  talked  of  his  return  to  France, 
and  of  Waterloo.  In  the  evening  the  Emperor  played 
whist  with  the  Admiral. 

September  77,  Sunday.  His  Majesty  worked  with  me 
at  problems  in  mathematics.  We  extracted  square  roots 
and  cube  roots,  and  we  solved  equations  of  second  and 
third  degrees. 

September  18.  His  Majesty  talked  to  me  about 
Lannes,  Murat,  Kleber,  and  Desaix,  and  assured  me  that 
the  last  was  the  best  general  he  had  ever  known.  He 
expressed  great  regret  for  the  death  of  Lannes,  for  he 
knew  how  much  I  loved  him.  "Clausel  and  General 
Gérard,"  he  said,  "promised  well.  Bernadotte  has  no 
head;  he  is  a  true  Gascon;  he  will  not  stay  long  where 
he  is.     His  turn  to  go  off  will  soon  come." 

September  iç.  Madame  Bertrand  has  inflammation  of 
the  brain.  She  has  been  bled  twice.  The  Emperor  says 
she  had  better  die.  His  Majesty  tells  me  that  among  all 
the  actresses  of  Paris  he  had  connection  with  only  one, 
Mademoiselle  Georges,  and  that  all  the  stories  told  about 

•  French  measure. 


GENERAL   GOURGAUD' S  JOURNAL  3^ 

little  Saint-Aubin,  are  false.  The  prettiest  women  are 
the  hardest  to  make  love  to. 

To-day  they  cleaned  the  arms  that  they  had  forced  us 
to  give  up.  These  are  nov^r  kept  under  lock  and  key. 
Among  them  are  two  of  the  Emperor's  swords — the  sword 
of  Aboukir,  and  that  of  the  Champ  de  Mai.  There  are  a 
repeating  rifle  and  three  other  rifles,  besides  eight  or  ten 
pairs  of  pistols. 

September  2j.  At  eleven  o'clock  in  the  morning  we 
crossed  the  Line  at  about  0°  longitude,  at  the  same  time 
as  the  sun.  At  nine  o'clock  the  sailors  made  ready  for 
the  usual  ceremony.  We  all  expected  to  be  well  soaked, 
but  they  were  not  hard  on  us.  A  sailor  came  forward  and 
asked  the  Admiral  who  was  on  the  poop,  where  General 
Bonaparte  was.  The  Admiral  replied  that  the  General 
had  once  before  crossed  the  Line.  Two  men  in  a  car 
came  forward,  one  dressed  as  Neptune,  the  other  as 
Amphitrite.  A  band  accompanied  them.  It  was  a  real 
saturnalia.  Persons  on  board  who  had  not  previously 
crossed  the  Line,  presented  themselves  one  after  another. 
I  followed  General  Bertrand.  I  gave  them  a  napoleon 
and  was  not  drenched.  His  Majesty  sent  for  me  to  know 
how  things  were  going  on,  and  told  me  to  give  Neptune 
from  him  a  hundred  napoleons.  I  went  and  asked  Ber- 
trand for  the  money,  but  he  thought  it  was  too  much.  He 
hesitated  to  make  the  gift.  The  right  time  passed.  We 
consulted  the  Admiral,  who  told  us  that  if  Neptune 
received  five  napoleons  it  would  be  enough.  In  the  end 
Neptune  got  nothing,  through  the  foolishness  of  Bertrand. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  the  thermometer  was  that  day  76' 
Fahrenheit,  and  only  on  two  days  while  they  were  in  the  tropics 
did  it  reach  80°. 

Septetnber  28.  His  Majesty  sends  for  me  to  talk  about 
Waterloo,  "Ah!  if  it  were  only  to  be  done  over  again!" 
he  cried. 


32      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  HELENA 

Two  days  later  there  was  a  little  scene  between  Gourgaud 
and  the  Emperor,  the  forerunner  of  many  others  occasioned  by 
Gourgaud's  jealousy  of  Las  Cases. 

September 30.  His  Majesty  sent  for  me.  Las  Cases  had 
told  him  that  yesterday  I  had  said  to  the  Admiral  that  Bona- 
parte was  not  General-in-chief  on  the  13th  Vendémiaire, 
which  is  true.  The  Emperor  scolded  me  sharply.  He  told 
me  it  was  he  who  commanded,  and  besides,  it  was  none  of 
my  business.  He  was  the  person  to  tell  the  Admiral  what 
he  chose,  and  that  even  if  he  did  not  say  the  truth,  I  was 
not  to  contradict  him.  "I  did  not  know,"  I  said,  "that 
Your  Majesty  had  spoken  on  the  subject  to  the  Admiral; 
he  questioned  me,  and  I  said  the  truth."  The  Emperor 
grew  still  more  angry,  and  advised  me  to  have  no  further 
talk  with  the  Admiral.  If  he  questioned  me  I  was  to 
make  no  reply.  He  advised  me  to  imitate  Las  Cases,  and 
even  went  so  far  as  to  exclaim,  "Some  day  you  will  pass 
over  to  the  service  of  the  English!"  I  replied,  "Sire,  if 
I  refused  to  enter  the  Russian  service  in  18 14,  it  was  not 
that  I  might  now  take  service  with  any  foreigners.  I 
prefer  to  be  a  soldier  of  France." 

In  the  evening  His  Majesty  sent  for  me.  The  book 
written  by  Las  Cases,  which  he  had  not  read,  was  not,  I 
told  him,  a  work  of  genius,  but  it  might  be  useful. 

October  j.  I  had  some  words  with  Las  Cases,  be- 
cause he  had  told  the  Emperor  what  I  said  in  a  conversa- 
tion I  had  with  him  about  the  death  of  Due  d'Enghien. 
He  asked  me  why  I  came,  and  assured  me  that  His 
Majesty  would  give  me  three  hundred  thousand  francs 
with  which  I  could  build  up  a  large  fortune,  if  I  would  go 
back  again.  I  retorted  vigorously.  "Las  Cases,"  I  said, 
"I  shall  never  approve  of  the  death  of  the  Duke,  or  of 

that  of  Pichegru If  I  am  here,  it  is  because  I 

was  attached  to  the  personal  service  of  His  Majesty,  whom 
I  have  followed  everywhere  for  four  years,  except  when 
he  went  to  Elba.     I  saved  his  life  once,  and  one  always 


GENERAL   GOURGAUD'S  JOURNAL  33 

loves  those  for  whom  one  has  done  some  great  thing. 
Yet  if  I  had  thought  he  was  coming  back  from  Elba  to 
bring  misfortunes  upon  France,  I  would  not  have  resumed 
my  place  in  his  service.  But  you,  sir — you  never  knew 
the  Emperor.  He  did  not  know  you  even  by  sight. 
....  Then  what  are  the  motives  of  your  great  devotion 
to  him.?"  .... 

I  see  around  me  many  intrigues,  much  deception. 
Pauvre  Gourgaud,  qu^ allais-tu  faire  dans  cette  galère? 

October  7.  At  noon  His  Majesty  dictated  to  me 
several  pages  about  the  campaign  in  Italy,  and  the  siege 
of  Toulon.  Then  the  conversation  turned  on  Madame 
Junot  (the  Duchesse  d'Abrantès).  Napoleon  said:  "She 
belonged  to  the  police  of  Monsieur  de  Blacas  in  1814, 
and  was  paid  fifteen  hundred  francs  a  month  for  her  ser- 
vices. Junot  married  her  out  of  vainglory;  he  had  a 
mania  for  the  noblesse.^' 

Las  Cases  asserts  that  the  Emperor  said  to  him, 
"Gourgaud  will  have  no  more  talks  with  the  Admiral.  I 
have  put  a  stop  to  them." 

October  14,  181^.     St.  Helena  is  sighted. 

October  75".  We  cast  anchor  at  noon.  I  was  in  the 
Emperor's  cabin  as  we  approached  the  island.  He  said: 
"It  seems  no  charming  place  to  live  in.  I  should  have 
done  better  to  stay  in  Egypt.  I  should  now  have  been 
Emperor  of  the  whole  Orient." 

A  day  or  two  after  the  Emperor  lands,  Gourgaud  reports  him 
assaying:  "It  is  a  horrible  island,  besides  being  our  prison.  You 
must  all  of  you  complain  of  it  bitterly." 

This  they  all  did,  except  Gourgaud  in  letters  written  to  his 
mother,  to  reassure  and  console  her.  These  letters  passed 
through  the  hands  of  Sir  Hudson  Lowe  (who  came  out  as  Gover- 
nor of  the  island,  on  the  15th  of  April,  1816)  and  Lord  Bathurst, 
the  Colonial  Secretary  in  the  Cabinet  of  Lord  Castlereagh.  The 
tone  of  this  correspondence  gave  them  a  favorable  opinion  of 
Gourgaud,  which  in  the  end  served  to  facilitate  a  scheme  of 
Napoleon's. 


NAPOLEON 


THE    TALKS    OF    NAPOLEON 


CHAPTER  I. 

EARLY  YEARS— 1769-1796. 

The  Bonaparte  Family. — Brienne. — Toulon. — His 
Life  as  an  Artillery  Officer. — The  Revolu- 
tion and  its  Leaders. 


The  Bonaparte  Family. 

"There  are  many  Napoleons  in  Corsica;  I  preferred 
to  call  myself  Bonaparte.  Bonaparte  is  the  same  name 
as  Buonarotti.     I  made  a  mistake  when  I  would  not  let 

my  relative,  Fra  Buenaventura,  be   canonized 

At  San  Miniato  one  of  my  kinsmen  who  was  a  Capuchin, 
Brother  Bonifacio  Buonaparte,'  died  in  the  odor  of  sanc- 
tity. He  was  declared  'blessed.'  When  I  entered  Italy, 
the  Capuchins  earnestly  besought  me  to  have  him  canon- 
ized, but  it  would  have  cost  a  million  francs.  Afterwards, 
when  the  Pope  came  to  Paris,  he  proposed  the  same  thing. 
It  would  probably  have  brought  over  to  me  many  of  the 
clergy;  but  I  consulted  my  Council,  and  they  thought 
that  it  would  seem  ridiculous,  like  certain  genealogies 
that  had  been  proposed  to  me.  So  the  blessed  Boniface 
Bonaparte  never  became  a  saint." 

The  Emperor  one  day  remarked  that  he  liked  the  old 
French  custom  of  leaving  the  bulk  of  a  family  fortune  to 
the  eldest  son.  In  this  way  every  family  might  possess 
one  wealthy  member,  whom  public  opinion  would  oblige 
to  push  the  fortunes  of  his  younger  brothers.     The  Bona- 

'  When  the  Bonnparte  family  became  French  subjects,  they  changed  the 
Italian  spelling  of  their  name:  Buonaparte  became  Bonaparte.— £■.  W.  L. 

35 


36      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  HELENA 

parte  family  in  Corsica  had  an  annual  income  of  about 
twelve  thousand  francs  because  their  property  for  more 
than  a  century  had  not  been  subdivided. 

The  Emperor's  grandfather,  knowing  the  spendthrift 
habits  of  his  son,  left  all  his  fortune  to  one  of  his  brothers, 
the  Archdeacon  Lucien  Bonaparte.  "This,"  said  His 
Majesty,  '*was  fortunate  for  us;  for  my  father,  who  liked 
to  play  the  grand  seigneur,  would  soon  have  spent  every- 
thing. He  was  fond  of  making  journeys  to  Paris,  which 
always  cost  a  great  deal  of  money.  He  died  at  Mont- 
pellier at  the  age  of  thirty-five.  Our  great-uncle  kept  a 
fortune  for  us,  which  my  father  would  have  squandered. 
It  was  this  granduncle,  whose  purse  Pauline  took  from 
under  his  pillow  when  he  was  dying." 

"My  father  had  always  been  a  man  of  pleasure,  but 
in  his  last  moments  he  could  not  draw  too  many  priests 
and  Capuchins  around  him.  On  his  death-bed  he  was  so 
devout  that  the  people  in  Montpellier  insisted  he  must  be 
a  saint.  On  the  other  hand,  my  uncle,  the  Archdeacon 
Lucien,  who  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-four,  and  who  all 
his  life  had  been  a  wise  man  and  a  brave  man,  would  not 
let  a  priest  come  near  him  in  his  last  moments.  Fesch, 
however,  insisted  upon  seeing  him;  but  when  he  wanted 
to  put  on  his  stole, ^  my  uncle,  as  soon  as  he  saw  him  do  it, 
told  him  angrily  to  let  him  die  in  peace.  Nevertheless  he 
spoke  to  us  of  religion  up  to  the  very  last." 

"My  father,  Charles  Bonaparte,  died  of  a  cancer 
about  1785.  My  brother  Louis  was  so  absurd  as  to  have 
his  body  removed  from  Montpellier,  that  he  might  erect  a 
monument  over  his  remains  at  Saint-Leu.  My  father  and 
mother  were  very  handsome  people.  My  wet-nurse  came 
to  see  me  at  the  time  of  my  coronation.  My  mother 
seemed  quite  jealous  of  her,  but  the  Pope  noticed  her 
several  times.     My  foster-sister,  who  was  a  clever  woman, 

'  Preparatory  to  administering  the  last  offices  of  religion. 


EARLY  YEARS— i-jôç-irçô  37 

married  an  officer,  and  one  of  her  brothers,  who  was  not 
far  from  my  own  age,  became  (though  the  son  of  a  Corsi- 
can  boatman)  captain  of  a  frigate  in  the  EngUsh  navy." 

"Madame  mère  had  thirteen  children.  I  am  the  third. 
On  August  15,  1769,  she  was  on  her  way  home  from 
church,  when  she  felt  the  pains  of  labor,  and  had  only 
time  to  get  into  the  house,  when  I  was  born,  not  on  a 
bed,  but  on  a  heap  of  tapestry.  My  father  died  in  1785. 
If  he  had  lived  my  mother  might  have  had  twenty  chil- 
dren. Madame  mère  was  a  maîtresse  fenwie.  She  had 
plenty  of  brains!" 

"At  one  time  in  my  reign  there  was  a  disposition  to 
make  out  that  I  was  descended  from  the  Man  in  the  Iron 
Mask.  The  Governor  of  Pignerol  was  named  Bompars. 
They  said  he  had  married  his  daughter  to  his  mysterious 
prisoner,  the  brother  of  Louis  XIV.,  and  had  sent  the  pair 
to  Corsica  under  the  name  of  Bonaparte.  I  had  only  to 
say  the  word,  and  everybody  would  have  believed  the 
fable." 

"When  I  was  about  to  marry  Marie  Louise,  her  father, 
the  Emperor,  sent  me  a  box  of  papers  intended  to  prove 
that  I  was  descended  from  the  Dukes  of  Florence.  I 
burst  out  laughing,  and  said  to  Metternich:  'Do  you  sup- 
pose I  am  going  to  waste  my  time  over  such  foolishness? 
Suppose  it  were  true,  what  good  would  it  do  me?  The 
Dukes  of  Florence  were  inferior  in  rank  to  the  Emperors 
of  Germany.  I  will  not  place  myself  beneath  my  father- 
in-law.  I  think  that  as  I  am,  I  am  as  good  as  he.  My 
nobiHty  dates  from  Monte  Notte.'  Return  him  these 
papers.'     Metternich  was  very  much  amused." 

"I  am  not  a  Corsican.  I  was  brought  up  in  France. 
I  am  a  Frenchman,  and  so  are  my  brothers.  I  was  bom 
in  1769,  when  Corsica  had  been  united  to  the  kingdom  of 

'  Napoleon's  first  victory,  1796. 


3^      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  HELENA 

France.  Joseph  is  my  elder  brother,  which  caused  some 
people  to  say  that  I  was  born  in  1768.  One  day  at 
Lyons,  a  maire,  thinking  he  was  paying  me  a  compliment, 
said:  'It  is  surprising.  Sire,  that  though  you  are  not  a 
Frenchman,  you  love  France  so  well,  and  have  done  so 
much  for  her.'  I  felt  as  if  he  had  struck  me  a  blow!  I 
turned  my  back  on  him." 

"Those  who  write  libels  on  me  are  pleased  to  call  me 
a  Corsican.  They  say  that  I  am  not  a  Frenchman!  I 
am  more  of  an  Italian,  or  a  Tuscan,  than  a  Corsican. 
And  yet  my  family  has  always  held  first  rank  in  that 
island.  Like  Paoli,  I  had  twenty-five  or  thirty  cousins  in 
Corsica.  I  am  sure  that  many  of  the  Corsicans  who  fol- 
lowed Murat  into  Calabria  must  have  been  my  kinsmen."  ' 

"My  mother  was  a  superb  woman,  a  woman  of  ability 
and  courage.  Almost  up  to  the  time  of  my  birth  she  fol- 
lowed the  army  that  was  contending  against  France  in 
Corsica.  The  French  generals  took  pity  on  her,  and  sent 
her  word  to  go  to  her  own  house  until  after  her  confine- 
ment. In  her  own  home  she  was  received  in  triumph. 
By  the  time  my  mother  was  confined,  Corsica  had  become 
French.  During  ihe  Revolution,  when  Paoli  had  some 
idea  of  putting  the  island  under  the  protection  of  the 
English,  I  opposed  his  project,  and  at  last  I  broke  with 
him.  I  was  persuaded  that  the  best  thing  Corsica  could 
do  was  to  become  a  province  of  France.  I  said  to  Paoli: 
'I  own  that  many  crimes  are  now  being  committed  in 
France,  but  that  is  the  case  in  all  revolutions.  All  that 
will  end  before  long,  and  then  we  shall  find  that  we  make  part 
of  a  great  country.'  Paoli  would  not  believe  me.  I  left 
him  and  I  came  to  France  after  war  had  ruined  our  prop- 
erty in  Corsica.  When  I  first  joined  the  army  I  was  em- 
ployed on  a  commission  for  the  purchase  of  gunpowder; 

'  Two  hundred  Corsicans  formed  a  band  which  followed  Murat  when,  in 
1815,  he  attempted  to  recover  his  kingdom  of  Naples. 


EARLY  YEARS— 176Q-17Q6  39 

then  I  came  to  Paris,  whence  they  sent  me  to  the  siege  of 
Toulon. 

"It  has  been  sometimes  said  that  Paoli  was  my  father. 
It  was  false.     It  could  never  have  been." 

*  'One  of  my  ancestors  in  Florence  wrote  a  comedy,  'La 
Veuve.'  It  was  extremely  indecent  [libre).  I  saw  the 
manuscript  in  the  Imperial  Library.  The  changes  now 
going  on  in  France  will  people  America  with  French  refu- 
gees, as  Florence  peopled  Corsica  with  Tuscans." 

Brienne. 

"In  18 14  I  could  not  recognize  Brienne,  where  I  had 
spent  my  school-days.  Everything  seemed  changed;  even 
distances  seemed  shorter.  The  only  thing  that  looked 
familiar  to  me  was  a  tree  under  which,  when  I  was  a 
pupil,  I  read  Tasso's  'Gerusalemme  Liberata.'  " 

The  Emperor  one  day  declared  he  could  not  finish 
reading  "Clarissa  Harlowe,  "  and  yet  he  remembered  that 
when  he  was  eighteen  he  had  devoured  it. 

"That  sets  me  to  considering  the  difference  between 
eighteen  and  forty-eight.  It  was  the  same  thing  when  I 
revisited  Brienne.  What  once  appeared  to  me  so  vast,  or 
so  far  off,  seemed  to  have  grown  smaller  and  nearer. 
Lovelace  was  a  scoundrel.  He  was  forever  holding  out 
hopes  that  he  would  make  the  fortune  of  those  who  served 
him,  but  his  income  was  only  two  thousand  pounds.  I 
calculated  it  for  him.  At  eighteen  I  did  not  understand 
what  bad  places  he  frequented." 

The  Emperor  told  us  that  when  in  garrison  at  Valence 
and  a  lieutenant  in  the  artillery,  he  was  walking  one  day 
some  distance  from  the  town,  when  a  man  came  up  to 
him  asking  if  he  could  tell  him  where  to  find  Lieutenant 
Bonaparte  ;  then,  suddenly  recognizing  the  man  he  sought, 


40      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  HELENA 

he  threw  his  arms  about  him.  He  was  an  ex-monk,  one 
of  the  teachers  at  the  mihtary  school  of  Brienne.  He  was 
a  man  who  had  always  treated  his  young  pupil  with  kind- 
ness and  distinction.  When  asked  what  the  lieutenant 
could  do  for  him,  Brother  Elie  (that  was  his  name)  an- 
swered that  he  would  let  him  know  by  and  by.  Mean- 
time young  Bonaparte  saw  that  he  was  well  provided  for 
at  Valence,  and  at  the  end  of  three  days  was  told  that  the 
funds  of  his  convent  had  been  divided  between  himself 
and  his  colleagues,  and  that  he  found  himself  in  posses- 
sion of  thirty  thousand  francs  in  gold.  Not  knowing  how 
to  dispose  of  so  much  money,  he  had  bethought  him  of 
his  old  pupil,  whom  he  knew,  he  said,  to  be  trustworthy, 
and  of  an  honorable  family.  He  therefore  begged  him  to 
take  the  money,  and  to  let  him  draw  on  it  as  he  had  need. 
After  some  hesitation  Bonaparte  accepted  the  trust, 
though  the  sum  was  an  enormous  one  for  a  young  man 
in  his  position.  But  he  heard  no  more  of  Brother  Elie 
until  he  was  at  Milan  during  his  first  campaign  in  Italy. 
Then  Brother  Éhe  came  to  see  the  General,  not  to  reclaim 
his  money,  but  to  shake  hands  with  him.  The  great  man 
paid  over  to  him  more  than  the  original  sum;  and  that 
was  the  last  he  ever  heard  of  Brother  Elie. 

The  Emperor  also  told  us  that  there  had  been  at 
Brienne  another  minime,  or  monk  teacher,  Patrault  by 
name.  He  was  an  excellent  mathematician.  He  had 
instructed  Pichegru  ;  and  the  whole  school  highly  esteemed 
him.  It  was  he  who  had  given  the  Cardinal  the  poison 
when  he  was  sentenced  to  death.  He  had  been  made 
guardian  to  the  daughters  of  Monsieur  de  Brienne,  and 
three  hundred  thousand  francs  had  been  given  him  to  bring 
them  up  in  obscurity,  and  to  find  them  good  husbands  in 
the  peasant  class,  but  he  wished  instead  to  marry  them  to 
his  nephews. 

"Monsieur  de  Brienne,  when  I  was  Consul,  wanted  to 
have  his  daughters  back  again,  but  Patrault  would  not 


EARLY  YEARS— lyôg-iygô  4^ 

give  them  up.  Finally  I  intervened,  and  restored  the 
young  ladies  to  Monsieur  de  Brienne.  One  of  them,  who 
but  for  me,  would  have  become  the  wife  of  a  peasant 
husband,  became  Madame  de  Canisy,  and  subsequently 
the  Duchesse  de  Vicence.'  I  gave  Patrault  a  place  in  the 
quartermaster's  department,  where  he  made  five  hundred 
thousand  francs  during  my  second  Italian  campaign.  I 
had  pretty  much  forgotten  him,  when  one  day  at  Malmai- 
son, I  received  a  letter  from  him  requesting  an  audience. 
As  I  knew  him  to  be  a  lover  of  intrigue,  I  thought  at  first 
he  wanted  to  tell  me  about  some  plot,  and  was  uneasy 
until  I  saw  him.  It  was  only,  however,  to  say  that  he 
was  ruined,  and  to  ask  me  for  a  place.  I  told  him  to 
come  back  in  two  days'  time.  Then  I  wrote  to  Dubois 
to  ask  what  he  knew  about  him.  He  replied  that  he  had 
lost  his  fortune  by  lending  money  for  short  periods. 
When  he  came  back  to  see  me  I  reproached  him  for  this, 
telling  him  that  I  had  made  his  fortune  once,  and  that  he 
ought  to  have  taken  better  care  of  it.  I  never  saw  him 
again." 

"I  think  the  use  of  pistols  in  a  duel  is  ignoble.  The 
sword  is  the  weapon  of  brave  men.  When  I  was  a  lieu- 
tenant in  the  artillery  I  fought  a  duel  with  a  naval  officer, 
who  in  company  had  said  that  all  officers  of  artillery  were 
sordid  money-lenders  {/esses- fnathieu)." 

"I  read  Père  Bourgoing's  book  ^  in  my  youth,  and 
what  I  remembered  of  it  was  of  use  to  me  in  all  my  nego- 
tiations. Of  battles  he  writes  as  a  civilian.  He  speaks 
of  the  wind  as  if  it  played  the  same  part  in  fights  on  land 
that  it  does  in  those  at  sea.  Civilians  can  form  no  con- 
ception of  a  battle.  Tilly  and  Wallenstein  were  better 
generals  than  Gustavus  Adolphus." 

'  Caulaincourt  was  Duke  of  Vicenza. 

'Bourgoing:  a  theologian  who  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Congrega- 
tion of  the  Oratoire.  He  lived  at  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century  and  the 
beginning  of  the  seventeenth.— £.  W.  L. 


42      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  HELENA 

"Maignet,  who  was  Representative  of  the  people  at 
Marseilles,  once  asked  me  to  give  him  a  plan  to  strengthen 
the  arsenal  against  any  coup  de  main,  and  I  drew  a  design 
with  a  crenelated  wall.  But  shortly  afterwards  arrived  a 
denunciation  against  the  commission  of  artillery  at  Mar- 
seilles, who  were,  it  was  said,  planning  to  construct  a 
fortress  to  intimidate  the  patriots.  A  decree  of  the  Con- 
vention summoned  the  commission  to  appear  before  its 
bar.  Sugny,  the  Military  Governor  of  Marseilles,  came 
and  informed  me  that  I  was  the  person  implicated,  and 
that  I  had  better  go  up  to  Paris,  and  answer  the  charge. 
I  replied  that  the  decree  referred  to  the  Chief  of  Artillery 
at  Marseilles,  and  not  to  me;  that  therefore  he  ought  to 
go  to  Paris,  and  testify  that  he  was  not  the  man  who  had 
made  the  plan.  He  did  so,  and  another  decree  was  issued 
against  me.  But  the  younger  Robespierre  wrote  to  his 
brother  in  my  behalf,  and  I  was  not  molested." 

The  Emperor  told  us  that  when  he  was  quite  young  he 
gained  a  prize  offered  by  the  Academy  of  Lyons  for  the 
best  paper  in  answer  to  the  question:  "What  are  the 
truths  and  principles  that  ought  to  be  inculcated  on  men 
that  they  may  enjoy  happiness?"  His  paper  gained  him 
a  gold  medal,  which  he  sold  afterwards  for  fifty  louis.  He 
mentioned  this  one  day  before  Talleyrand,  who  seemed  to 
take  no  notice,  but  five  or  six  days  later  he  came  to 
the  Emperor,  bringing  him  this  paper,  which  he  had 
obtained  from  the  Academy  at  Lyons.  "I  asked  him,  as 
I  took  it:  'Have  you  read  \\?.'  'No,  Sire,  I  have  just 
received  it.'  Then  I  flung  it  into  the  fire,  and  pushed  it 
down  with  the  tongs.  Talleyrand  became  quite  red  in  the 
face,  but  I  did  not  wish  to  let  any  one  see  such  a  paper, 
written  when  I  was  very  young.  It  might  have  exposed 
me  to  ridicule  when  I  was  Emperor." 

"When  I  was  a  lieutenant,  in  a  visit  the  corps  paid  to 
Monsieur  du  Teil  (afterwards  a  general),  I  made  a  few 


EARLY  YEARS— 176Q-17Q6  43 

remarks,  which  pleased  him  so  much,  that  he  gave  me  the 
ordnance-yard  to  superintend.  I  should  soon  have  been 
made  a  colonel,  and  then  I  would  have  tried  to  get  an 
appointment  on  the  staff  of  some  marshal.  I  might  have 
advised  him  and  assisted  him,  and  I  should  soon  have 
become  distinguished.  The  most  important  quality  in  a 
general  is  firmness.    And  firmness  is  a  gift  from  heaven." 

Toulon. 
"I  knew  Junot  first  at  the  siege  of  Toulon.  He  was 
quarter-master  in  a  battalion  from  the  Côte  d'Or.  I 
needed  some  one  who  could  write  for  me.  I  asked  Gavais 
for  such  a  man.  Gavais,  who  was  commandant  at  Fon- 
tainebleau in  1 8 14,  was  in  command  of  a  battalion  at 
Toulon.  He  sent  me  two  men.  Junot  came  first.  I 
took  him.  He  pleased  me.  That  same  day,  being  in  my 
battery,  I  was  getting  him  to  write  a  letter,  when  a  can- 
non ball  covered  us  both  with  dust  and  gravel.  Junot 
cried  at  once,  *  Bien!  Here's  sand  enough  for  this  letter!' 
He  wrote  a  superb  hand,  and  he  stayed  with  me.  The 
other  man  long  after,  was  still  a  non-commissioned  officer, 
while  Junot  had  got  splendid  promotion.  Such  is  fate. 
Junot  was  always  a  braggart,  a  terrible  fellow  for  running 
after  women.  He  liked  to  be  surrounded  by  members  of 
the  old  nobility.  I  ought  never  to  have  given  him  a  com- 
mand; in  his  latter  days  he  wanted  very  much  to  be  made 
a  marshal.     At  Valoutina  he  was  already  mad." 

"The  itch  is  a  terrible  malady.  I  contracted  it  at  the 
siege  of  Toulon.  Two  gunners  who  had  it  were  killed 
in  front  of  me,  and  I  was  covered  with  their  blood.  I 
was  not  properly  treated,  and  I  continued  to  suffer  from 
it  while  in  Italy,  and  in  Egypt.  When  I  came  back  from 
the  East,  Corvisart  cured  me  by  putting  three  blisters  on 
my  chest;  this  brought  on  a  salutary  crisis.  Before  that 
time  I  had  been  thin  and  sallow;  since  then  I  have  always 
had  good  health." 


44      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

During  the  siege  of  Toulon,  the  Convention  wanted  * 
to  send  to  the  Gulf  of  Piombino  a  squadron  to  disembark 
ten  thousand  troops  who  were  to  march  on  Rome.  Bona- 
parte opposed  the  project,  pointing  out  that  the  King  of 
Naples  would  have  sixty  thousand  men  not  far  from  there, 
that  the  French  had  no  cavalry,  and  that  the  best  place 
to  land  would  be  Monte  Argentario,  whence  they  could 
take  up  a  position  at  Orbitello.  He  asked  them,  "How 
do  you  expect  to  avenge  the  death  of  Bassville?  The 
Pope  and  the  cardinals  will  escape  from  Rome;  if  you 
pillage,  or  outrage  the  women,  you  will  frighten  the 
partisans  we  now  have  in  the  States  of  the  Church. 
Besides,  men  are  men,  and  a  population  of  two  hundred 
thousand  is  not  to  be  despised."  In  spite  of  this,  Letour- 
neur,  who  was  the  Representative  from  the  Convention, 
persisted.  He  wanted  to  go  to  Rome,  and  his  colleagues 
wanted  to  follow  him. 

"Old  Thénard,  who  was  a  fierce  aristocrat  at  heart, 
but  terribly  afraid  of  what  might  happen  to  himself, 
addressed  the  Representatives,  and  urged  them  to  favor 
the  expedition,  being  sure  it  would  not  succeed.  The 
only  way  I  could  oppose  it  was  by  asking  the  sailors 
whether  they  would  rather  fight  the  English  with  or  with- 
out a  convoy  of  transports.  They  all  answered,  'Without 
the  convoy!'  'Then,'  said  I,  'let  us  beat  the  English 
first,  and  then,  when  you  are  masters  of  the  sea,  you  can 
come  back  and  take  the  convoy.'  This  advice  prevailed. 
But  the  French  squadron  of  fifteen  ships  was  dispersed  by 
the  English,  and  the  expedition  never  took  place." 

The  Revolution  and  Its  Leaders. 

"Up  to  July  14,  1789,  I  would  not  have  stayed  the 

Revolution;  the  King  had  good  sense;  what  he  wanted 

was  vigor.     He  was  like  my  brother  Joseph,  who,  when 

King  of  Spain,  complained  to  me  about  Belliard,  the  Gov- 

'  In  revenge  for  the  murder  of  Bassville,  tfie  French  ambassador  in 
Rome. 


EARLY  YEARS— 176Q-17Q6  45 

ernor  of  Madrid.  When  I  spoke  to  Belliard,  he  replied: 
'It  is  true,  Sire.  I  was  in  command.  Every  day  I  had  to 
give  my  own  orders  and  to  arrange  my  own  plans,  for 
King  Joseph  did  not  think  about  plans  or  orders  once  a 
month.'  " 

"At  the  time  of  the  oath  of  the  Tennis  Court,  I  think 
Louis  XVI.  might  have  arrested  the  Revolution,  but 
though  he  had  daring  in  reserve,  he  lacked  decision  at  the 
right  moment  for  action.  He  had  more  talent  than  most 
men.  He  knew  it,  and  that  was  the  reason  why  he  per- 
sisted in  wishing  to  govern  France  by  himself.  He  ought, 
like  Louis  XIII.,  to  have  taken  a  competent  prime  minis- 
ter, and  to  have  let  him  act.  Perhaps  if  Monsieur  de 
Montmorin  had  governed  France  the  Revolution  might 
not  have  taken  place." 

"Necker  was  a  man  of  talent.  Monsieur  de  Calonne's 
support  was  among  the  rascals;  Necker  had  that  of 
honest  men.  But  Monsieur  Necker  did  much  to  bring 
on  the  Revolution.  He  was  not  noble,  and  not  being  in 
favor  with  the  noblesse,  he  could  not  be  of  their  party."  ' 

"The  Constituent  Assembly  made  a  constitution  that 
was  absurd,  but  I  think  that  a  constitution  is  not  wanted 
in  France.  France  is  essentially  a  monarchical  country — 
I  mean  that  it  does  not  need  deliberative  assemblies, 
although  there  always  have  been  such  in  the  provinces, 
the  States  General,  and  the  parliaments,  but  no  legislative 
assemblies.  If  any  one  wants  to  get  up  a  revolution,  his 
sure  plan  would  be  to  create  a  parliament.  At  once  two 
parties  will  be  formed  in  it,  and  then  passions  and 
hatreds  will  be  aroused  between  them." 

'  Napoleon  said  that  when  he  was  First  Consul  he  was  visited  at  Geneva  by 
M.  Necker,  who  talked  as  if  he  was  by  no  means  au  courant  in  French  affairs, 
"  And,"  added  the  Emperor,  "  he  wanted  me  to  make  him  one  of  my  ministers, 
for  men  never  lose  sight  of  ambition.  Monsieur  de  Calonne  also  addressed 
a  long  memorial  to  meat  Malmaison,  full  of  erasures,  immediately  after  his 
return  to  France.  He,  too,  aspired  to  be  a  minister.  In  this  paper  he  strongly 
advised  the  government  to  take  no  part  in  certain  financial  operations,  which 
were  merely  speculative.    The  man  was  a  fool!" 


46      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  //ELENA 

"The  Constituent  Assembly  had  better  have  taken  the 
Duke  of  Orleans  for  King,  and  have  at  once  changed  the 
succession.  Foreign  powers  would  probably  not  have 
interfered.  Some  people  might  have  said  that  to  acqui- 
esce in  such  a  change  of  dynasty  would  have  been  dis- 
honorable in  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  but  the  splendor  of 
royal  robes  can  conceal  anything.  I  declare  I  believe 
that  if  Louis  XVI.  had  made  his  escape  at  Varennes,  the 
Duke  of  Orleans  would  have  been  elected  King,  and  the 
Revolution  might  have  taken  a  very  different  course." 

"Louis  XVL,  after  his  flight,  deserved  what  happened 
to  him!  He  had  made  us  all  swear  to  be  faithful  to  the 
constitution,  and  then  he  deserted  us!" 

"The  campaign  of  Dumouriez  in  Champagne  was 
very  fine,  very  bold.  Dumouriez  was  the  only  great 
soldier  who,  during  the  Revolution,  sprang  from  the 
ranks  of  the  nobility.  He  would  have  made  me  a  good 
minister.  He  had  good  sense  and  great  talent.  But  in 
his  Memoirs  he  talks  nonsense  when  he  tells  us  that  he 
might  have  been  made  Duke  of  Brabant,  when  his  military 
career  had  lasted  only  eight  or  ten  months!  It  is  possible 
that  if  it  had  lasted  as  many  years,  he  might  have  become 
a  man  of  high  renown.  With  Lafayette  it  was  different. 
All  the  other  generals  of  that  time — Kellerman,  Beurnon- 
ville,  and  Valence — were  mere  nonentities;  we  found  them 
so  afterwards  !  Brunswick  acted  very  foolishly  during  his 
campaign  in  Champagne.  When  a  general  invades  a 
country  he  must  not  be  afraid  of  giving  battle.  He  must 
follow  up  his  enemy  until  he  can  attack  him.  Brunswick 
ought  not  to  have  given  the  French  time  to  breathe.  Who 
at  that  time  could  have  stopped  the  Prussian  general.?" 

"I  think  the  massacres  of  September  may  have  pro- 
duced a  powerful  effect  on  the  men  of  the  invading  army. 
In  one  moment  they  saw  a  whole  population  rising  up 


EARLY  YEARS— 1769-1796  47 

against  them.  Everywhere  there  was  blood  and  murder. 
It  has  been  said  that  during  the  Revolution  honor  took 
refuge  with  the  Republican  armies,  but  I  can  declare  from 
my  own  knowledge,  that  those  who  massacred  in  September 
were  almost  all  soldiers,  who,  before  going  to  the  fron- 
tier, were  resolved  to  leave  no  enemies  behind  them.  It 
was  Danton  who  made  the  project.  He  was  a  very  extraor- 
dinary man;  a  man  capable  of  anything.  One  cannot 
understand  why  he  separated  from  Robespierre,  or  why 
he  should  have  suffered  himself  to  be  guillotined.  It 
seems  as  if  the  two  millions  he  had  appropriated  in  Bel- 
gium had  changed  his  character.  It  was  he  who  said, 
''De  r audace!  puis  de  V audace!  et  encore  de  V audace!'  " 

"Marat  was  naturally  a  clever  man,  but  he  was  more 
or  less  mad.  What  gave  the  public  great  confidence  in 
him  was,  that  in  1790  he  had  prophesied  what  would  hap- 
pen in  1792.  He  kept  up  a  lone  fight  against  every  man. 
He  was  a  very  singular  being.  Such  abnormal  persons 
are  not  seldom  found  in  history.  Whatever  people  may 
say  of  them  they  are  not  despicable  characters.  Few  men 
have  made  their  mark  on  the  world  as  they  have  done." 

"Robespierre  will  never  be  well  known  in  history.  It 
is  certain  that  Carrier,  Fréron,  and  TaUien  were  more 
bloody-minded  than  he. 

"Danton  left  many  friends  behind  him,  among  them 
Talleyrand  and  Sémonville.  He  was  a  real  party-chief, 
greatly  beloved  by  his  followers." 

"All  I  read  in  the  'Moniteur'  confirms  my  opinion  of 
Robespierre.  The  Constitutent  Assembly  drew  up  an 
absurd  constitution.  It  was  ridiculous  to  decree  that  the 
King  might  not  do  as  he  pleased  with  his  own  Guards, 
without  asking  the  permission  of  the  Assembly.  The 
mayor  of  any  little  insignificant  town  under  the  constitution 
would  have  had  more  power  than  a  marshal  of  France." 


48      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  HELENA 

"Robespierre  was  overthrown  because  he  wished  to 
become  a  moderator,  and  to  arrest  the  Revolution. 
Cambacérès  told  me  that  the  day  before  his  death  he  made 
a  magnificent  speech  to  that  effect,  which  had  never  been 
printed.  Billaud  and  other  Terrorists  thought  he  was 
becoming  too  little  of  a  Jacobin,  and  would  certainly  cut 
off  their  heads,  so  they  leagued  together  against  him,  and 
excited  the  so-called  'honest  men'  to  overthrow  'the 
tyrant,'  but  really  that  they  might  take  his  place  and 
make  the  Reign  of  Terror  worse  than  ever.  But  as  soon 
as  Robespierre  fell,  the  popular  explosion  was  so  great 
that  the  Terrorists,  do  what  they  would,  were  powerless 
to  get  the  upper  hand  again." 

"Collot  d'Herbois  committed  atrocious  deeds  at 
Lyons.  One  cannot  conceive  how  he  was  able  to  have 
five  or  six  thousand  persons  shot,  and  assuredly  in  such  a 
city  the  execution  of  fifty  or  sixty  leaders  would  have 
been  more  than  was  necessary. 

"Carrier  wrote  to  the  Convention  that  the  Loire  was  a 
beautiful  gulf  in  which  the  Revolutionists  might  drown  their 
enemies.  Those  men  were  far  more  sanguinary  than 
Robespierre.  Robespierre  was  a  man  of  probity  and 
strict  morality.  He  committed  a  great  blunder  when  he 
caused  the  death  of  Danton.  He  ought  to  have  sent 
Chaumette  and  Hébert  into  exile,  and  not  have  condemned 
them  to  the  scaffold;  but  in  those  days  nothing  was 
thought  of  but  the  guillotine.  Danton' s  party  was  very 
numerous.  It  took  its  revenge  by  overthrowing  Robe- 
spierre." 

"Robespierre  ought  to  have  had  himself  proclaimed 
Dictator.  But  he  would  not  have  found  that  so  easy  as 
if  he  had  been  a  general.  Soldiers  are  not  republicans. 
They  are  accustomed  to  obey;  and  are  very  wilHng  to 
see  citizens  submit  to  authority. 


EARLY  YEARS— 1769-170  49 

"At  the  camp  at  Boulogne,  in  1803,  the  soldiers  wished 
to  have  me  proclaimed  Emperor.  Armies  are  essentially 
monarchical,  and  you  will  see  the  same  spirit  gaining 
ground  in  England.  On  the  i8th  Fructidor'  (September 
4),  if  the  Directory  had  been  reconstructed,  I  would  have 
marched  on  Lyons  with  fifteen  thousand  men,  and  have 
placed  myself  at  the  head  of  the  Government.  I  could 
have  rallied  all  parties  round  me." 

"Marat  was  a  singular  man.  He  boasted  in  the 
Chamber  of  being  guilty  of  the  things  for  which  other 
men  tried  to  frame  excuses.  Charlotte  Corday,  I  think, 
did  a  noble  deed  in  defense  of  society." 

"What  I  approved  in  Marat  was  his  perfect  frankness 
about  himself.  He  was  an  original.  He  said  what  he 
thought.     Single-handed  he  fought  all  men." 

"In  my  opinion  the  Duke  of  Orleans  never  conspired 
against  the  King.  There  had  always  been  an  Orleans 
party  in  France  because  all  dissatisfied  members  of  the 
royal  family  instinctively  turn  their  eyes  toward  that 
branch  which  is  nearest  the  throne.  It  is  the  same  thing 
now." 

"Carrier  was  a  perfect  monster,  a  beast  of  prey. 
What  atrocities  he  committed!  How  did  it  happen  that 
no  one  murdered  him.''  A  taste  for  murder  came  from 
making  a  god  of  Marat,  who  was  a  madman, — and  his 
coffin  was  placed  in  the  Pantheon!" 

"What  Marat  proposed  to  do.  Carrier  did.  At  Mar- 
seilles Fréron  and  Barras  also  committed  atrocities.  They 
arrested  an  old  tradesman  who  was  deaf  and  blind.     They 

'  On  the  15th  Fructidor,  while  Napoleon  was  still  with  his  victorious  army 
in  Italy,  the  majority  of  the  Directors  summoned  Hoche  to  rid  them  of 
Barthélémy  and  Carnot,  their  two  minority  colleagues,  and  of  fifty-three  mem- 
bers of  the  Council,  whom  they  accused  of  being  anti-revolutionary.  Napo- 
leon, in  spite  of  his  victories,  was  not  a  favorite  with  the  Directors  at  that 
period.— £.  W.  L. 


50      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  HELENA 

said  he  was  a  conspirator.  The  poor  wretch  asked 
them:  'Do  you  want  my  fortune?  Take  it,  but  spare  my 
life.  I  have  eighteen  millions.  I  give  it  all  to  you,  pro- 
vided you  will  leave  me  my  life  and  half  a  million  !  '  But 
they  guillotined  him. 

"Men  who  had  dined  one  day  with  Representatives  of 
the  Convention,  were  next  day  sent  by  their  entertainers 
to  the  scaffold.  There  is  a  great  difference  between 
preaching  the  effusion  of  blood  and  shedding  it.  I  was 
at  Marseilles  at  that  time,  on  business  connected  with  the 
artillery;  I  saw  it  all. 

"At  Nantes  there  perished  six  thousand  persons,  and  as 
many  at  Lyons  and  at  Marseilles;  but  at  Toulon  compara- 
tively few  lives  were  taken.  Only  three  hundred  men 
were  shot  there — poor  wretches! — because  they  had  ac- 
cepted employment  from  the  English. 

"Well!  it  was  the  deeds  of  Carrier,  Fréron,  and  Barrera 
which  were  the  prime  cause  of  the  overthrow  of  Robe- 
spierre. Carrier  brought  on  the  revolt  in  La  Vendée  by 
his  iniquities.  I  can  easily  conceive  why  men  hated  the 
Convention. 

"But  we  will  not  talk  about  such  dreadful  things. 
Nothing  in  all  history  equals  those  horrors.  All  the 
members  of  the  Committee  of  Public  Safety  deserved  to 
perish.  Any  man  who  sentences  another  man  to  death 
without  hearing  his  defense  deserves  death  himself. 
They  condemned  at  one  stroke  thirty  of  their  fellow- 
deputies.  Blood  calls  for  blood  ....  Pick  up  your 
book,  Gourgaud,  and  go  on  with  our  reading." 

"The  Duke  of  Orleans  found  poor  support  from  the 
mob,  who  have  always  looked  on  those  who  can  dine  with 
two  courses  as  their  enemies.  It  is  the  same  thing  with 
slaves;  they  are  always  the  enemies  of  their  masters, 
however  kind  those  masters  may  have  been  to  them. 
Roustan  abandoned  me  because  I  had  bought  him." 


EARLY  YEARS— 1760-1796  51 

"The  Bourbon  kings  needed  always  a  prime  minister 
or  a  mistress.  The  Queen  was  the  mistress  of  Louis 
XVI.  If  he  had  not  persisted  in  thinking  himself  a  man 
capable  of  governing,  he  might  have  taken  a  prime  minis- 
ter, and  then  perhaps  the  Revolution  might  not  have 
broken  out." 

"Roederer  did  not  vote  for  the  King's  death;  on  the 
contrary  he  gave  excellent  advice  at  the  Tuileries.  He 
has  often  told  me  that  when  the  Queen  was  alone  with  the 
King  she  was  frightened  and  wept,  but  as  soon  as  she 
showed  herself  to  the  courtiers  she  took  an  air  of  dignity 
and  hauteur.  Marie  Louise  was  like  that.  She,  too, 
had  German  pride.  The  King,  on  the  contrary,  was  always 
in  full  dress,  with  his  steel  sword  at  his  side,  and  the 
powder  falling  out  of  his  hair;  it  was  piteous  to  look  at 
him.     He  was  incapable  of  inspiring  energy  in  others." 

"Louis  XVI.,  when  at  Fontainebleau,  would  never 
review  a  regiment  of  dragoons,  if  it  shouted:  'The  King! 
The  King!'  because  public  opinion  in  those  days  did  not 
like  a  sovereign  to  be  a  military  man,  nor  even  to  care  for 
his  soldiers.  And  yet  as  a  general  thing  the  Bourbons 
were  all  brave.  They  cannot  be  reproached  for  lack  of 
courage." 

The  Emperor  blamed  Sieyès  for  having  voted  for  the 
death  of  Louis  XVI.  without  explanation.  "In  his 
place,"  he  added,  "I  should  have  said  that,  tvith  the 
deepest  regret  I  voted  the  death  of  the  King.  '  ' 

"On  a  certain  occasion  the  Deputies  kept  on  their  hats 
while  the  King  was  uncovered.  When  Louis  XVI.  saw 
this,  with  a  gesture  full  of  dignity,  he  put  on  his  hat. 
Cambacérès  told  me  afterwards  that  this  act,  and  the 
manner  of  the  King  gave  great  pleasure  to  those  who  wit- 
nessed it,  and  some  even  cried  Bravo!" 


52      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

"Roederer  has  often  told  me  that  the  Queen  (Marie 
Antoinette)  lost  her  head  on  the  loth  of  August.  The 
only  soldiers  at  the  Tuileries  that  day  were  the  Swiss. 
Unhappily  they  fired  on  a  party  from  the  sections  who 
were  coming  to  support  the  King — and  then,  all  that 
afterwards  happened  took  place." 

"Roederer  assured  me  that  all  that  has  been  said  of 
the  firm  courage  of  the  Queen  on  the  lOth  of  August, 
was  false.  She  was  like  any  other  woman.  In  the 
King's  cabinet  she  wept  bitterly;  she  appeared  to  be 
frightened,  and  asked  Roederer  what  had  better  be  done. 
It  was  she  who  insisted  that  they  ought  to  go  to  the 
Assembly;  when  she  left  the  King's  cabinet  her  tears  were 
dried,  and  all  who  saw  her  beheld  her  dignified  and 
courageous.  As  to  Madame  Elizabeth,  I  think  she  was, 
as  Las  Cases  says,  'a  devil,'  as  the  Duchesse  d'Angou- 
leme  now  is,  though  in  the  provinces  and  in  the  news- 
papers she  is  called  an  angel  of  goodness."  * 

"I  have  been  reading  the  Queen's  trial.  Chauveau- 
Lagarde  would  have  done  better  to  make  no  reply,  and 
she  herself  made  a  noble  answer  on  the  subject  of  her  son. 
It  really  seems  as  if  they  may  have  succeeded  in  destroying 
the  child's  mind,  and  that  he  may  have  spoken  against  his 
mother;  agents  of  the  court  may  have  perverted  his  heart." 

"In  the  affair  of  the  Diamond  Necklace  the  Queen  was 
innocent,  and  that  her  innocence  might  be  more  publicly 
acknowledged,  she  wished  that  the  Parliament  of  Paris 
should  try  the  case.  The  result  was  that  the  public  con- 
sidered the  Queen  guilty.  That  caused  a  scandal,  and 
threw  discredit  on  the  Court.  Perhaps  the  fate  of  the 
King  and  Queen  may  be  said  to  have  been  fixed  from  the 
day  of  that  trial." 

»  Madame  Elizabeth  was  devoted  to  her  brothers,  the  Comte  de  Provence 
and  the  Comte  d'Artois.  This  led  to  disagreements  between  herself  and  the 
Queen,  and  probably  her  sympathies  with  these  brothers  and  the  cmisrés  led 
to  the  opinion  here  pronounced  on  her  by  Napoleon,  who  elsewhere  spoke  of  her 
as  "that  saint  who  bore  on  earth  the  name  of  Elizabeth."— £.  W.  L. 


CHAPTER  II. 

NAPOLEON'S  RISE  TO  FAME  AND  FORTUNE. 
1795-1799- 

The  Day  of  the  Sections,  13  Vendémiaire 
(October  4,  1795). — Campaign  with  the  Army 
OF  Italy,  1796,  1797. — Egypt,  1798. — 18  Bru- 
maire (November  9,  1799). 


The    Day     of    the    Sections,     13     Vendémiaire 
(October  4,  1795). 

"On  the  13th  Vendémiaire,^  I  was  apprehensive  that 
the  populace  might  gain  possession  of  the  Louvre.  As 
soon  as  I  was  in  command  I  asked,  'Where  is  the  artil- 
lery?' I  was  told  that  it  was  at  Sablons  under  the  charge 
of  fifteen  men.  I  sent  for  an  officer  of  the  Twenty-first 
Light  Chasseurs.     Murat  arrived,  and  I  despatched  him 

•  By  I7Q5  the  French  nation  had  grown  disgusted  with  the  rule  of  the 
Convention.  Conventionahsts  themselves  saw  that  some  change  must  be 
attempted.  They  framed  a  new  constitution  called  that  of  the  year  VIII., 
which  was  wholly  unsatisfactory.  There  seemed  no  remedy  but  the  dispersion 
of  the  Convention  by  force  and  a  change  of  government.  The  National  Guard 
of  Paris,  30,000  strong,  and  the  mob  instigated  by  the  Jacobins,  whose  power 
lay  in  the  Sections  (or  as  we  might  call  them  the  wards)  into  which  the  city  was 
divided,  were  joined  by  what  remained  of  the  party  of  the  Royalists,  who, 
although  the  triumph  of  the  Sections  would  imply  a  renewal  of  Jacobinism, 
thought  that  anything  which  might  lead  to  the  overthrow  of  the  Convention 
would  be  to  their  advantage.  The  men  most  powerful  at  that  time  in  the  Con- 
vention and  in  its  Conseil  des  Quarante  were  Barras,  Carnot,  and  Sieyès. 
They  resolved  to  make  resistance.  General  Menou  marched  with  a  column  of 
regular  troops  to  disarm  and  disperse  a  large  body  of  the  National  Guard 
drawn  up  in  the  Rue  Lepelletier;  but,  hampered  by  Representatives  from  the 
Convention  who  accompanied  him,  he  retired  without  a  contiict.  When  news 
of  this  reached  the  Convention,  Barras  said  to  Carnot,  or  Carnot  said  to  Barras 
(which  spoke  first  is  uncertain),  "We  have  the  very  man  for  this  work.  He  is  a 
little  Corsican  officer  who  will  not  stand  on  ceremony."  it  was  the  month  of 
October,  1795.  Napoleon  had  come  to  Paris  in  May  earnestly  soliciting  em- 
ployment, but  had  received  nothing  but  repulses.  He  had  grown  so  dis- 
couraged that  it  is  said  he  was  on  the  point  of  offering  his  services  to  the 
Turkish  government,  saying  to  his  friends:  "How  strange  it  would  be  if  I 
should  one  day  become  King  of  Jerusalem!  "— £.  W.  L. 

53 


54      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  HELENA 

at  a  gallop  to  bring  off  the  cannon.  He  was  but  just  in 
time.  The  Sections  were  arriving  to  gain  possession  of 
them.  Murat  charged  them  at  once.  This  was  my  first 
meeting  with  Murat.  On  the  same  occasion  I  first  saw 
Lemarois.  Muiron  I  had  known  at  the  siege  of  Toulon. 
On  this  occasion  he  commanded  at  the  cul-de-sac  Dau- 
phin. I  had  five  thousand  men  with  me,  but  at  such 
moments  troops  are  apt  to  change  sides. 

"I  was  at  the  Conseil  des  Quarante,  presided  over  by 
Cambacérès,  when  some  one  came  in  to  announce  the 
position  taken  by  the  Sections.  The  members  of  the 
Conseil  trembled  and  were  inclined  to  conciliate  the  mob. 
Sieyès  came  up  to  me  and  said:  'While  these  people  are 
deliberating,  the  Sections  will  break  in  upon  us.  Go, 
General!  Act  according  to  your  own  judgment,  and  do 
not  fear  to  fire.' 

"I  distributed  muskets  to  the  Representatives.  They 
asked  what  for.  When  I  answered,  'To  defend  yourselves,  * 
they  began  to  comprehend  that  they  were  in  danger. 

"That  movement  on  the  13th  Vendémiaire  was  in  the 
hands  of  Royalist  leaders.  Danican  was  one  of  them. 
He  sent  us  a  message  by  a  flag  of  truce.  When  the 
handkerchief  was  taken  from  the  man's  eyes,  in  presence 
of  the  Quarante,  all  the  members  begged  him  to  repre- 
sent the  Republic  favorably  to  his  general.  Their  plan 
was,  if  we  should  be  defeated,  to  retire  on  Tours." 

"On  the  13th  Vendémiaire  General  Dupont,  brother  of 
the  minister,  was  in  command  at  the  Hôtel  de  Noailles. 
He  opened  a  passage  to  the  Sections.  The  Terrorists 
fought  like  heroes!" 

"After  the  13th  Vendémiaire  there  were  bread  riots  in 
Paris.  In  one  of  these  I  found  myself,  with  my  chief  of 
staff,  passing  along  a  street  filled  with  rioters.  An  im- 
mensely stout  woman  stepped  forward  and  began  to  abuse 
me,  caUing  me  an  é^aulettier.     I  turned  to  the  mob  and 


RISE   TO  FAME  AND  FORTUNE  55 

asked  them  which  of  us  two  seemed  to  have  the  most 
right  to  complain  of  famine.  At  this  the  crowd  burst 
into  a  hearty  laugh  and  dispersed." 

"The  Parisians  are  a  curious  people!  I  never  would 
organize  a  national  guard.  I  called  civihans  out  only 
occasionally.  Paris  gives  laws  to  France.  Few  people 
appreciate  the  temerity  of  the  Girondins,  who  tried  to 
master  Paris  without  the  help  of  a  mihtary  force." 

"The  day  after  the  13th  Vendémiaire,  I  found  Tallien 
and  his  friends  at  the  Tuileries.  They  had  come  to  make 
me  comphmentary  speeches.  I  said  to  them:  'Gentle- 
men, yesterday  you  were  poltroons — to-day  you  wish  to 
be  considered  saviors  of  the  Republic.  What  do  you  say 
now  about  the  forty  thousand  National  Guards  who  yester- 
day wished  to  murder  you,  and  who  shout  to-day  that 
they  are  all  for  you.?'  That  was  just  like  the  French. 
They  are  weathercocks." 

"After  the  13th  Vendémiaire  Lemarois  came  one  morn- 
ing to  tell  me  that  Madame  de  Beauharnais,  whose  husband 
had  been  guillotined  after  having  been  a  Republican 
general,  had  sent  her  son  to  speak  to  me.  The  lad  was 
in  my  antechamber.  Lemarois  said  he  was  a  handsome 
boy.  I  told  him  to  let  him  enter.  The  young  fellow  said 
that  his  mother  wished  to  keep  his  father's  sword,  that 
we  had  just  disarmed  the  Sections,  and  that  this  weapon 
had  been  found  on  one  of  the  combatants.  He  begged 
me  to  have  it  given  back  to  him.  I  granted  his  request, 
and  sent  Lemarois  with  him  to  the  Section  to  get  it. 
Next  day  Madame  de  Beauharnais  came  to  see  me,  and 
left  her  name.  A  few  days  later  she  came  again.  Then 
I  sent  Lemarois  to  see  her.  He  was  well  received.  He 
reported  that  she  was  a  beautiful  and  agreeable  woman. 
She  had  a  private  residence,  so  I  sent  my  card.  Shortly 
after  that  she  invited  me  to  dinner.     I  met  at  her  table 


56      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  HELENA 

persons  with  whom  she  was  on  the  most  friendly  terms, 
the  Due  de  Nivernois,  Madame  TaUien,  Elleviou,  and  I 
think,  Talma.  She  behaved  charmingly.  She  placed 
me  next  to  herself  at  table.  She  bantered  me  a  Uttle.  I 
thought  her  a  very  charming  woman,  but  somewhat  of  an 
intrigante.  In  my  turn  I  asked  her  to  dinner.  I  had 
Barras,  too,  that  day.  Things  went  on  until  at  last  we 
became  fascinated  with  each  other.  Barras  did  me  good 
service  in  that  affair,  for  he  advised  me  to  marry  her, 
assuring  me  that  she  belonged  both  to  the  Old  Régime 
and  to  the  New,  so  that  the  marriage  would  give  me  good 
standing  in  society.  Her  house  was  known  to  be  the  best 
in  Paris,  and  I  should  cease  to  be  called  a  Corsican.  In 
short,  by  this  step  I  should  become  thoroughly  Frenchi- 
fied, Hortense  did  not  approve  of  the  marriage,  for  in 
those  days  they  called  Republican  generals  épaulettiers. 
Eugene,  on  the  contrary,  favored  my  suit.  He  saw  him- 
self in  imagination  my  aide-de-camp.  Josephine  was  at 
that  time  a  very  charming  woman.  She  was  full  of  grace 
— a  woinati  in  every  sense  of  the  word.  She  always 
began  by  saying  'no'  to  everything,  merely  that  she  might 
gain  time  to  consider  her  final  answer;  then  she  would 
say,  'Ah!  yes.  Monsieur.'  She  seldom  told  the  truth, 
but  there  was  something  charming  about  her  equivoca- 
tions. I  may  say  that  she  was  the  woman  I  have  the 
most  really  loved.  She  knew  me  thoroughly.  She  never 
asked  me  to  do  anything  for  her  children.  She  never 
begged  me  for  money,  but  she  made  debts  by  the  milhon. 
She  had  bad  teeth,  but  was  so  careful  of  showing  them 
that  few  people  perceived  them.  She  was  the  wife  who 
would  have  gone  with  me  to  Elba." 

"Barras  ^  was  a  man  of  good  family  in  Provence,  who 
brought  himself  into  prominence  in  the  Convention  by  his 
loud  voice.     He  never  said  more  than  one  or  two  phrases, 

•  Barras  became  a  count  of  the  Empire,  but  received  no  other  favors  from 
the  Emperor.    He  survived  Napoleon  eight  years,  dying  in  1829.— £.  W.  L, 


RISE   TO  FAME  AND  FORTUNE  57 

but  they  came  like  thunderclaps.  He  had  the  bearing  of 
a  fencing  master,  boastful  and  self-assured.  He  could  be 
of  great  value  in  any  popular  movement.  On  the  13th 
Vendémiaire  I  had  all  the  trouble  in  the  world  to  get  him 
to  give  me  an  order  to  fire  on  the  rioters,  and  I  was  re- 
solved if  possible  to  get  that  order. 

"Barras  was  a  very  immoral  man.  He  was  shameless 
in  his  debauchery.  He  stole  openly,  but  he  was  the  only 
one  of  the  Directors  who  had  good  manners — who  knew 
how  to  receive  guests,  and  how  to  dispense  hospitality. 
He  had  adopted  a  fashion  of  never  taking  part  in  any 
argument,  of  never  expressing  an  opinion,  and  in  this 
way,  in  whatever  manner  things  turned  out,  he  could 
always  approve  or  disapprove  the  action  of  his  colleagues. 
He  had  a  certain  revolutionary  cunning,  never  expressing 
an  opinion  until  after  the  event.  He  was  utterly  untrust- 
worthy. He  would  cordially  press  the  hands  of  those 
whom  he  would  much  rather  have  stabbed.  Falseness  and 
deception  may,  it  is  true,  be  sometimes  useful  to  the 
leader  of  a  faction.  He  was  very  ignorant.  All  he  knew 
about  history  was  the  name  and  fame  of  Brutus;  and  that 
name  he  made  sound  like  a  trumpet  call  in  the  Conven- 
tion. He  always  showed  friendliness  to  me,  though  after 
my  return  from  Egypt  he  would  have  been  glad  to  get  rid 
of  me  by  sending  me  back  to  the  East."  ' 

'  The  Directors,  in  consideration  of  Napoleon's  services  on  the  13th  Ven- 
démiaire, gave  him  command  ol  the  Army  of  Italy,  then  out  of  heart,  disorgan- 
ized, and  accustomed  to  reverses. 

This  campaign  in  Italy,  when  Napoleon  took  the  command,  was  most 
brilliant  and  successful.  He  joined  his  troops  at  Nice  late  in  the  month  of 
March,  1795,  and  in  less  than  a  month  he  had  won  three  battles  (the  first  of 
which  was  the  battle  of  Monte  Notte),  against  forces  superior  to  his  own.  He 
had  reduced  the  Austrians  to  inaction;  he  had  forced  the  King  of  Sardinia  to 
make  a  disadvantageous  peace,  and  had  secured  every  important  city  in  Lom- 
bardy  and  Piedmont,  e-xcept  Turin,  Mantua,  and  Milan.  After  Beaulieu,  the 
Austrian  general,  had  suffered  repeated  defeats,  the  command  of  his  forces 
was  transferred  to  tlie  veteran  general  Wurmser,  who  had  no  better  fortune. 
By  the  close  of  1796  not  only  the  King  of  Sardinia,  but  the  King  of  Naples, 
the  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany,  and  several  of  the  minor  potentates  of  Italy  had 
been  forced  to  sign  treaties  of  peace  with  the  French  Republic. 

On  the  Rhine,  Moreau  had  njade  his  masterly  retreat  through  the  Black 
Forest,  while  Jourdan,  whom  Napoleon  always  considered  an  incapable  gen- 
eral, bad  been  defeated.    All  through  the  autumn  of  1796  Napoleon  was  push- 


58      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

Campaign   With   the   Army   of   Italy,   1796-1797. 

"In  the  days  of  the  Terror  and  the  Revolution,  France 
had  no  good  generals.  The  Austrian  general  staff  was 
better  than  ours.  I  am  now  writing  the  campaign  of 
Schérer;  '  what  a  record  of  incapacity!  Once  in  the 
Directory  I  heard  Schérer  talking  about  war;  he  did  so 
with  great  fluency.  I  turned  to  Talleyrand,  and  said:  'I 
am  not  astonished  that  this  man  should  be  the  eagle  of 
Rewbell  and  Barras;  he  misleads  them  with  false  reason- 
ing based  on  false  facts  cleverly  put  together,  but  he 
understands  nothing  about  war.'     When   I   superseded 

ing  the  remains  of  Wurmser's  array  into  the  mountains  of  the  Tyrol,  ably 
assisted  by  Augereau  and  Massena.  Late  in  the  year  Wurmser  was  replaced 
by  a  younger  general,  Marshal  Alvinzi, 

Of  course  this  note  cannot  relate  the  story  of  the  campaign,  nor  even  tell 
of  Lodi,  Rivoli,  Castiglione,  or  Areola.  The  latter  (fought  Nov.  15,  1796)  assured 
the  fortunes  of  Napoleon.  That  success  Napoleon  said  he  gained  in  person 
with  the  help  of  only  twenty-five  brave  followers,  but  he  suffered  the  loss  of 
the  gallant  Colonel  Muiron,  his  one  intimate  personal  friend. 

In  I7g7  the  fight  was  still  kept  up  with  Alvinzi,  while  Wurmser,  who  had 
held  out  bravely  in  the  strong  city  of  Mantua,  had  been  forced  to  capitulate. 
By  February,  i7g7,  with  the  exception  of  Venice,  Napoleon  was  master  of  all 
northern  Italy.  The  imperial  court  at  Vienna  was  paralyzed,  and  the  Pope, 
who  was  threatened  by  General  Victor,  felt  as  if  the  days  of  Alaric  the  Goth 
had  come  again.  But  Napoleon  showed  no  disposition  to  imitate  the  blood- 
thirsty Jacobin  leaders,  whom  he  abhorred.  Even  exiled  French  priests,  who 
had  sought  refuge  in  the  States  of  the  Church,  were  treated  with  humanity  and 
consideration.  Peace  was  made  with  the  Pope,  and  Napoleon  prepared  to 
march  his  victorious  army  to  Vienna.  He  was  now  opposed  to  the  Archduke 
Charles,  who  had  obtained  recent  victories  over  the  French  armies  on  the 
Rhine,  but  after  three  days'  fierce  fighting  on  the  banks  of  the  Tagliamento, 
the  Archduke  received  instructions  from  the  Emperor  to  treat  with  the  enemy. 
A  provisional  treaty  was  made  at  Leoben,  April  18,  1797,  twelve  months  and  a 
few  days  after  Napoleon  had  taken  command  of  the  disorganized  and  dispirited 
Army  of  Italy.  Six  months  later  the  provisional  treaty  of  Leoben  was  changed 
into  the  important  but  brief  peace  of  Campo  Formio.  Meantime  Napoleon 
had  summoned  his  young  wife  to  join  him  in  Italy,  and  had  established  a 
small  court  near  Milan,  at  Montebello. 

It  is  singular  that  Napoleon  does  not  seem  to  have  discussed  this  brilliant 
campaign  with  Gourgaud.  We  can  only  bring  together  some  few  anecdotes  he 
told  that  bear  on  it,  and  refer  the  reader  to  any  good  historical  work  on  the 
subject.— .£.  W.  L. 

'  Napoleon,  on  March  q,  1796,  three  days  after  his  marriage,  set  out  to 
supersede  General  Schérer.  General  Schérer  died  in  1804,  having  achieved  no 
historical  distinction,  though  he  was  at  the  head  of  the  War  Department  from 
i7q7  to  i7gg  under  the  Directory.  Napoleon  as  a  general  of  artillery  had  been 
a  short  time  with  the  Army  of  Italy  after  the  siege  of  Toulon,  but  his  contempt 
for  the  Representatives  of  the  Convention,  and  his  new  plan  of  campaign,  had 
made  him  unpopular  iu  Paris  with  the  authorities.— .£.  W.  L. 


RISE   TO  FAME  AND  FORTUNE  59 

him  in  the  Army  of  Italy  it  was  bare  of  everything  in  the 
district  of  Nice.  I  ordered  the  magistrates  to  furnish  the 
supphes  it  needed,  or  else  I  would  let  the  soldiers  pillage 
the  farms  and  violate  the  women.  The  cavalry,  which 
was  on  the  Rhone,  could  not  rejoin  the  main  army  for 
want  of  authority  to  procure  forage  on  the  march.  I 
sent  orders  to  the  colonels  of  all  these  regiments,  wherever 
they  passed  to  requisition  it,  to  show  my  order,  and  if  it 
was  not  obeyed,  to  take  what  was  needed  by  force.  In 
this  way  I  soon  organized  my  army.  Schérer,  after  his 
battle  of  Pastrengo,  instead  of  recalling  Moreau,  who  had 
victoriously  pushed  up  to  the  walls  of  Verona,  should  have 
marched  after  him,  and  by  giving  him  good  support,  he, 
too,  would  have  achieved  a  victory.  Instead  of  that  he 
recalled  Moreau,  and  began  to  retreat.  His  purpose 
being  to  establish  himself  on  the  Adige,  he  should  have 
taken  Verona  and  Lugano,  and  he  would  thus  have 
obtained  a  good  position,  which  ought  to  be  the  object  in 
every  movement.  The  Austrians  ought  to  have  placed 
themselves  at  some  crucial  point  between  the  Mincio  and 
the  Adige,  in  the  centre  of  the  Quadrilateral,  and  to  have 
fortified  themselves,  waiting  till  the  Russians  should  come 
up,  and  if  the  French  tried  to  cross  the  Adige  they  might 
have  fallen  on  their  flanks.  Turenne  would  have  done  so, 
but  they  dared  not  make  war  after  Turenne' s  fashion — in 
Schérer's  day.  Besides  this,  I  declare,  in  spite  of  Dumas 
and  other  scribblers,  that  during  the  Revolution  the  art  of 
war  went  backward  rather  than  improved.  Moreau  did 
well  during  that  campaign,  because  he  was  with  his  centre. 
He  had  about  twenty  thousand  men  under  his  orders — 
more  he  could  not  manage.  I  think  I  see  him  now,  boast- 
ful and  smoking  his  pipe,  for  he  was  only  good  for  com- 
manding a  division.  A  general-in-chief  should  be  quite 
another  man.  Moreau  was,  however,  greatly  superior  to 
Jourdan.     In  1800  Jourdan  lost  a  whole  month  before 


6o      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

Ulm,  where  Kray  was  detaining  him;  he  did  not  know 
what  he  wanted  to  do,  and  yet  Ulm  is  the  central  point 
of  Germany.  During  the  wars  of  the  Revolution  the  plan 
was  to  stretch  out,  to  send  columns  to  the  right  and  left, 
which  did  no  good.  To  tell  you  the  truth,  the  thing  that 
made  me  gain  so  many  battles  was  that  the  evening  before 
a  fight,  instead  of  giving  orders  to  extend  our  lines,  I  tried 
to  converge  all  our  forces  on  the  point  I  wanted  to  attack. 
I  massed  them  there.  I  overcame  all  before  me,  for  of 
course  I  aimed  at  some  weak  point.  Before  Wagram  I 
recalled  Bernadotte,  who  was  forty  leagues  away,  on  the 
Danube.  I  collected  all  my  forces.  I  had  one  hundred 
and  sixty  thousand  men  under  my  orders,  while  the  Arch- 
duke Charles  had  left  Prince  John  at  Presburg. 

"Berwick  says  that  more  men  are  required  to  defend 
the  Alps  than  to  attack  them.  That  is  nonsense.  Are 
not  the  Alps  a  good  line  of  defence.»'  If  a  general  has  the 
most  men,  why  should  he  stay  on  the  defensive.!*  Besides, 
if  he  massed  his  troops  at  Grenoble  or  Chambéry,  he 
would  be  exactly  in  a  position  to  crush  the  enemy  as  he 
descended  from  the  mountains.  Villars  thought  it  was 
best  to  remain  beyond  the  mountain  range,  and  to  fall  on 
the  enemy  when  he  entered  the  last  defile;  and  he  was 
right.  Feuquières  was  wrong  when  he  blamed  circumval- 
lations.  They  are  always  necessary;  they  are  indispens- 
able. If  the  Duke  of  York  had  had  circumvallations 
before  Dunkirk  he  would  never  have  lost  the  battle  of 
Hondschoote.  Feuquières  writes  that  at  Turin,  Valen- 
ciennes, and  Arras,  the  lines  were  forced,  but  those  three 
places  were  exceptions.  There  are  so  many  instances  to 
the  contrary!  Should  an  army  stay  in  its  lines?  That  is 
another  question,  which  cannot  be  answered  positively,  so 
much  depends  on  circumstances,  the  strength  of  the  lines, 
and  the  spirit  of  the  soldiers.  France  was  so  ill-governed 
at  that  period  that  one  faction  after  another  formed  itself 


RISE  TO  FAME  AND  FORTUNE  6i 

at  the  head  of  the  state.     One  day  Carrier  was  lauded  to 
the  skies;  the  next  day  he  was  guillotined."  ' 

"When  I  was  at  the  head  of  the  Army  of  Italy,  the 
Directory  sent  me  two  commissioners  [faiseurs  d'affaires) . 
They  came  in  search  of  me,  and  while  I  was  marching  on 
Leoben,  I  was  told  that  they  had  laid  hands  on  a  contribu- 
tion of  six  millions  of  francs  that  I  had  imposed.  Forth- 
with I  put  into  General  Orders  that  two  men,  furnished 
with  false  letters  from  the  Directory,  had  carried  off  six 
millions  intended  to  pay  the  soldiery,  and  I  ordered  that 
they  should  be  arrested  and  brought  before  a  military 
commission.  They  had  gone  back  to  Paris,  however. 
When  they  arrived  there,  as  they  brought  many  diamonds 
with  them,  they  were  well  received  by  Barras  and  dined 
with  him.  When  my  Order  to  the  Army  was  known  at 
the  Luxembourg,  La'  Réveillière,  who  was  a  very  honest 
man,  persuaded  the  Directory  to  have  them  arrested,  say- 
ing that  the  honor  of  the  Directors  was  at  stake. 

"At  Rastadt^  Merlin  and  Jean  de  Bry  (commissioners 
from  France)  had  only  fifty  thousand  francs,  and  they 
could  hardly  contrive  to  live,  until  I  got  there.  The 
Grand  Duke  caused  the  best  apartment  to  be  given  me, 
though  Metternich  had  applied  for  it,  saying  that  he  was 
the  representative  of  the  Emperor  Francis.  Horses, 
carriages,  everything,  in  short,  was  put  at  my  disposal. 
I  distributed  presents,  for  I  had  brought  considerable 
money  from  Italy.  The  two  poor  French  representatives 
were  quite  amazed  when  they  found  I  had  so  much,  while 
they  had  so  little.  The  Grand  Duke  treated  me  with  dis- 
tinction; perhaps  that  induced  me  afterwards  to  see  that 

'  Perhaps  these  observations  should  more  properly  be  placed  under  the 
head  of  the  Art  of  War,  but  they  were  part  of  an  animated  speech  Napoleon 
was  making  which  began  with  strictures  on  the  campaign  conducted  in  1795  by 
his  predecessors  in  Italy. — E.  W.  L. 

•  A  town  in  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Baden,  where  a  congress  was  being  held 
to  arrange  terms  of  peace  between  France  and  Austria.— £.  W.  L. 


62      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  //ELENA 

he  was  well  treated.  I  soon  perceived  that  I  could  not 
hold  friendly  relations  with  princes  and  representatives  of 
the  people  at  the  same  time,  so  I  departed,  leaving  the 
two  poor  plenipotentiaries  the  greater  part  of  the  money 
that  remained  to  me,  and  they  were  enchanted." 

"General  Laharpe  commanded  an  advance  guard  of 
five  thousand  grenadiers,  in  which  Lannes  was  chief  of  a 
battalion,  at  the  passage  of  the  Po.  When  the  passage 
had  been  effected,  I  hurried  to  my  grenadiers,  for  it  was 
very  important  to  take  possession  of  Saorgio  before  the 
arrival  of  Beaulieu.  I  found  their  commander  behind  the 
fleet  of  boats,  pale,  with  disordered  features.  I  asked 
him  where  he  was  going.  'I  am  going  to  Piacenza;  I  am 
ill.'  I  told  him  I  expected  him  to  attack  Saorgio.  Well! 
he  obeyed.  But  he,  who  was  generally  bold  and  brave, 
would  not  put  himself  at  the  head  oi  his  men  on  this  occa- 
sion, but  kept  in  the  rear  of  the  centre  columns.  He  was 
evidently  in  some  unusual  state  of  mind.  Saorgio  was 
taken  during  the  night,  and  Laharpe  led  the  advance  in  a 
reconnaissance.  As  his  party  came  back  to  Saorgio  about 
two  o'clock  in  the  morning,  our  troops  mistook  them  for 
the  enemy.  They  fired  on  Laharpe  and  his  escort.  He 
was  killed!  I  have  also  noticed  that  men  who  have 
retired  from  the  army  and  return  to  active  service  almost 
invariably  meet  their  fate  in  battle."  ' 

"Yes,^  I  was  happy  when  I  became  First  Consul; 
happy  at  the  time  of  my  marriage,  and  happy  at  the  birth 
of  the  King  of  Rome,  but  then  I  did  not  feel  perfectly 
confident  of  the  security  of  my  position.     Perhaps  I  was 

'This  anecdote  was  related  during  a  conversation  on  presentiments  and 
what  are  called  ghost  stories.— £■.  IV.  L. 

"On  one  occasion  a  discussion  arose  among  the  members  of  the  little 
court  at  Longwood  on  the  question:  At  what  period  in  his  life  was  Napoleon 
most  happy?  Gourgaud  said:  "At  the  time  of  his  marriage";  Madame  de 
Montholon,  "When  he  became  First  Consul";  Bertrand,  "At  the  time  of  the 
birth  of  the  King  of  Rome."    Napoleon  answered  as  above. 


RISE  TO  FAME  AND  FORTUNE  63 

happiest  at  Tilsit.  I  had  just  surmounted  many  vicissi- 
tudes, many  anxieties,  at  Eylau  for  instance;  and  I  found 
myself  victorious,  dictating  laws,  having  emperors  and 
kings  to  pay  me  court!  And  yet  perhaps  I  felt  most 
happy  after  my  victories  in  Italy.  What  enthusiasm  was 
then  shown  for  me!  What  cries  of  'Long  live  the  Liber- 
ator of  Italy!'  and  all  this  when  I  was  only  twenty-five. 
From  that  moment  I  perceived  what  I  might  some  day 
become.  I  saw  the  whole  world  passing  beneath  me  just 
as  if  I  had  been  borne  up  into  the  air." 

Gourgaud  records  that  one  day  at  Longwood  the  talk 
fell  on  the  time  of  the  Treaty  of  Campo  Formio,  and  on 
Comte  de  Cobentzel,  the  Austrian  ambassador  sent  to 
negotiate  that  treaty.  Gourgaud  says  that  Napoleon 
always  called  him  the  White  Bear  of  the  North,  for 
though  he  was  amiable  in  society,  he  was  roughly  Ger- 
man in  these  diplomatic  conferences.  He  was  always 
saying  to  any  proposition,  "It  cannot  be.  My  master 
will  never  consent  to  it."  He  had  on  a  side-table  a  little 
tray  on  which  were  displayed  some  teacups  given  to  him 
by  various  sovereigns,  especially  Catherine  of  Russia,  of 
whom  he  was  always  talking.  The  young  French  general, 
then  General  Bonaparte,  annoyed  at  the  rough  tone  and 
manner  of  this  diplomatist,  who,  laying  his  great  hand 
upon  the  treaty  exclaimed,  "This  cannot  be,"  said: 
"Comte  de  Cobentzel,  have  you  given  us  your  ultimatum.? 
Well,  then,  before  three  months  are  over  I  shall  break 
your  monarchy  in  pieces,  as  I  now  break  the  china  cups 
upon  this  table.  Our  negotiations  are  at  an  end."  So 
saying  he  let  the  precious  porcelains  fall,  and  left  the 
room.  Next  day  the  Treaty  was  signed.  "The  Em- 
peror," says  Gourgaud,  "in  telling  us  this  anecdote, 
remarked:  'In  those  days  I  had  all  the  stem  pride  of  a 
Republican,  and  I  despised  the  Austrians.'  " 


64      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  HELENA 

Egypt. 

"When  my  army  disembarked  in  Egypt  it  was  ready 
to  mutiny,  seeing  what  a  country  it  was — a  country  where 
there  was  no  bread  to  eat,  no  wine  to  drink;  a  country 
where  none  of  our  customs  were  understood,  where  there 
were  no  forks,  and  no  countesses  to  make  love  to,  as  in 
Italy.  Before  reaching  Damanhour  I  asked  Magallon, 
who  had  been  French  consul  in  those  parts,  if  we  should 
find  provisions  in  that  city.  He  answered  in  the  negative. 
I  had  sent  Desaix  with  a  guard  in  advance  to  prepare  me 
quarters.  When  we  reached  the  place,  I  was  conducted 
to  a  kind  of  barn.  I  sent  for  Desaix  and  reproached  him 
for  assigning  me  such  a  lodging.  He  assured  me  that  it 
was  the  best  he  could  do  for  me.  I  told  him  he  was  right 
to  respect  harems,  but  that  the  conquered  must  always 
lodge  their  conquerors.  In  the  end,  when  I  found  that 
there  was  really  no  better  place  for  me,  I  slept  in  my  tent. 
The  soldiers  were  indignant  at  the  nature  of  the  country, 
but  the  generals  were  the  most  dissatisfied,  and — it  is 
horrible  to  own  it — I  really  think  it  was  fortunate  for  us 
that  our  fleet  was  destroyed  at  Aboukir,^  otherwise  the 
army  might  have  re-embarked. 

"We  hoped  that  Cairo  might  prove  better  than  we 
had  been  told  to  expect,  and  it  was  not  until  the  night  of 
our  arrival,  when  we  had  examined  the  cushions  of 
Murad  Bey,  that  we  beheved  Magallon,  who  had  laughed 
when  I  asked  him  if  we  should  find  handsome  furniture 
and  Lyons  silks  there.  Cairo  gave  me  at  once  eight 
millions  worth  of  contributions.  People  knew  nothing 
about  Egypt  in  Paris.  If  I  could  have  had  the  Mamelukes 
for  my  allies  I  should  have  been  master  of  the  Orient; 
Arabia  was  all  ready  to  welcome  a  leader." 

"In  Egypt  what  most  astonished  the  natives  was  our 
clothes,  our  hats  especially.     I  at  once  changed  several 

•  The  battle  of  the  Nile. 


RISE   TO  FAME  AND  FORTUNE  65 

parts  of  our  French  costume.  The  sheiks  always  told 
me  that  if  I  wished  to  establish  myself  in  Egypt  as  a 
patriarch,  the  French  army  must  assume  the  turban,  and 
turn  Mohammedan.  That  was  my  own  intention,  but  I 
would  not  take  the  step  until  I  was  sure  it  would  succeed, 
else,  like  Menou,  I  should  only  have  made  myself  ridicu- 
lous. I  could  have  made  my  army  do  anything  I  pleased, 
it  was  so  much  attached  to  me.  Any  other  general  at  the 
head  of  troops  accustomed  to  all  the  delights  of  Italy, 
would  have  failed  in  that  expedition.  At  the  end  of 
three  days  the  army  wanted  to  re-embark.  I  had  great 
trouble  about  this  on  the  march  from  Alexandria  to  Cairo. 
They  had  no  bread,  and  the  discontent  was  great.  Some 
regiments  even  refused  to  continue  the  march.  I  was 
firm.  I  seized  a  negro  general,  Dumas,  and  I  threatened 
to  have  him  shot.  Lannes,  Berthier,  and  Davout  were 
among  the  grumblers.  Desaix  alone  thought  as  I  did. 
Kleber  was  not  there,  but  would  probably  have  thought 
like  Desaix.  The  army  was  particularly  opposed  to  the 
savants  and  to  Caffarelli;  they  said  that  I  had  suffered 
myself  to  be  dragged  into  the  expedition  by  the  Directory, 
and  that  Caffarelli  thought  it  a  good  joke,  for  he  had  one 
leg  in  France.  In  the  end  the  soldiers  changed  their 
views  about  the  savants  and  Caffarelli.' 

"Crétin  was  an  excellent  engineer  officer;  though  he 
was  rather  morose.  He  said  what  he  thought  very 
frankly,  and  when  he  talked  with  me  was  more  ready  to 
raise  objections  to  my  plans  than  to  give  them  his 
approval." 

"Perhaps  the  destruction  of  the  fleet  was  an  advantage 
to  us,  inasmuch  as  it  took  away  for  a  time  the  wish  th"e 
army  had  of  returning  to  France.  But  yet  had  I  had  my 
ships,  I  should  have  been  master  of  everything.  The 
Mamelukes  would  have  joined  me;  the  loss  of  the  fleet 

'  Killed  at  the  siege  of  St.  Jean  d'Acre.  Chief  of  the  engineer  corps  in 
Egypt.— .£.  W.L. 


66      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  HELENA 

hindered  all  that!  The  Arabs  only  wanted  a  man  to 
lead  them;  they  looked  on  me  as  an  extraordinary  being, 
especially  when  they  saw  how  my  generals  obeyed  me.  I 
took  care  to  assure  them  that  in  the  event  of  my  death 
another  man  would  take  my  place,  and  would  command 
the  same  obedience,  but  that,  perchance,  that  other  general 
would  not  be  so  favorably  disposed  to  them  as  I  was. 

"Caffarelli  was  a  very  brave  man.  When  we  crossed 
the  Red  Sea,  I  put  him  under  the  care  of  two  guides,* 
who  were  excellent  swimmers.  The  night  was  dark,  the 
tide  was  rising.  We  had  mistaken  the  light  on  a  gunboat 
for  the  land,  and  we  should  have  been  lost  if  we  had  not 
got  back  promptly  to  the  shore.  I  heard  behind  us  about 
a  hundred  and  sixty  yards  away,  the  shouts  of  Caffarelli. 
I  thought  his  guides  had  deserted  him.  I  hastened  to  the 
spot  and  found  he  was  refusing  to  follow  his  guides,  tell- 
ing them  to  let  him  drown,  that  it  was  useless  that  for  his 
sake  such  brave  men  as  they  should  die.  I  was  angry 
and  struck  him  a  blow  in  the  face  with  my  riding  whip. 
But  for  this  he  would  have  been  lost." 

"When  I  was  in  Egypt  I  raised  a  company  mounted 
on  dromedaries,  in  squads  of  five,  with  two  horses  and 
eleven  men  to  accompany  them.  They  were  to  carry 
provisions  for  a  month.  Water  can  generally  be  found 
in  the  desert  every  four  days.  By  this  means  I  reduced 
the  Arabs  to  submission,  because  I  sent  these  dromedary 
men  into  the  very  heart  of  the  desert  to  destroy  their 
encampments.  Immensity  no  longer  proved  a  refuge  for 
the  Arabs.  I  could  get  at  them  anywhere.  This  drome- 
dary corps  was  an  experiment,  to  see  if  I  could  not  by 
such  means  get  into  India.  I  wanted  to  bring  fifteen 
thousand  black  men  from  Darfur,  who  if  well  officered, 
would  have  made  excellent  soldiers.^     I  would  have  had 

•  Caffarelli  had  lost  a  leg. 

'The  black  soldiers  in  the  recent  campaign  from  Cairo  to  Khartoum 
proved  this.— iS.  W,  L, 


RISE   TO  FAME  AND  FORTUNE  67 

sixty  or  seventy  thousand  men  for  the  kernel  of  my 
army.  In  the  desert  I  would  have  marched  ten  leagues  a 
day  in  three  columns  en  échelons,  so  that  we  might  find 
sufficient  water  in  the  wells.  I  could  have  had  as  many 
dromedaries  as  I  wanted.  My  sick,  my  ammunition,  and 
my  provisions  would  have  been  placed  on  these  animals. 
I  would  have  had  no  carriages  on  wheels,  except  such  as 
were  needed  for  the  cannon.  I  would  have  concentrated 
my  columns  before  entering  inhabited  places.  I  would 
thus  have  marched  to  the  Indus,  and  have  destroyed  the 
power  of  the  English  in  India.  It  would  have  been  a 
march  of  three  thousand  miles.  I  would  have  made  a 
long  halt  on  the  Euphrates  and  at  other  places,  according 
to  circumstances.  I  would  have  had  rations  prepared  to 
be  transported  on  the  dromedaries — rice,  flour,  and 
coffee,  enough  to  give  a  pound  a  day  to  each  man." 

"Sire,  the  English  have  one  hundred  and  sixty  thou- 
sand men  in  India,"  interrupted  Gourgaud. 

"But  I  would  have  allied  myself  with  the  Mahrattas. 
They  would  have  furnished  me  with  excellent  cavalry. 
Besides,  the  sepoys  are  natives  of  India.  The  English 
very  much  dreaded  my  coming.  That  was  why  they  took 
possession  of  Alexandria.  But  some  day  they  will  see 
what  will  happen  to  them  from  Russia.  The  Russians 
will  not  have  so  great  a  distance  to  march  to  enter  India. 
They  are  already  in  Persia.  Russia  is  the  power  likely 
to  march  the  most  safely  and  most  swiftly  to  universal 
dominion." 

"If  I  had  stayed  in  the  East  I  should  have  founded  an 
empire,  like  Alexander.  It  was  a  most  politic  visit  that 
he  paid  to  the  Temple  of  Ammon.  I  would  have  under- 
taken a  pilgrimage  to  Mecca,  and  have  made  prayers 
and  genuflexions  before  the  tomb  of  the  Prophet;  but  I 
would  not  have  done  this  if  it  had  not  been  worth  while. 
I  would  not  have  acted  prematurely  like  that  fool  Menou." 


68      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  HELENA 

"One  day  in  May,  1 8 17,"  says  Gourgaud,  "His 
Majesty  spoke  to  me  of  Egypt.  He  thinks  Bertrand  did 
very  wrong  when  he  signed  the  sentence  of  impalement 
pronounced  upon  Sohman.  He  had  not  the  right  to  inflict 
such  punishment  according  to  French  law.  'If  the 
punishment  of  the  country  had  been  milder  than  that  of 
France,  would  you,  or  would  you  not,  have  applied  it? 
You  should  be  impaled  yourself  for  that  act  in  the  infernal 
regions.'  " 

"Mohammed  appeared  at  a  moment  when  all  men 
were  anxious  to  be  authorized  to  believe  in  but  one  God. 
It  is  possible  that  Arabia  had  before  that  been  convulsed 
by  civil  wars,  the  only  way  to  train  men  of  courage. 
After  Bender  we  find  Mohammed  a  hero!  A  man  can  be 
only  a  man,  but  sometimes  as  a  man  he  can  accomplish 
great  things.  He  is  often  like  a  spark  among  inflammable 
material.  I  do  not  think  that  Mohammed  would  at  the 
present  time  succeed  in  Arabia.  But  in  his  own  day  his 
religion  in  ten  years  conquered  half  the  known  world, 
whilst  it  took  three  centuries  for  the  religion  of  Christ 
firmly  to  establish  itself.  The  religion  of  Christ  is  too 
subtle  for  Orientals;  they  want  something  more  definite, 
less  spiritual." 

"Mohammed's  case  was  like  mine.  I  found  all  the 
elements  ready  at  hand  to  found  an  empire.  Europe  was 
weary  of  anarchy.  Men  wanted  to  make  an  end  of  it. 
If  I  had  not  come,  probably  some  one  else  would  have 
done  like  me.  France  would  have  ended  by  conquering 
the  world.  I  repeat,  a  man  is  only  a  man.  His  power 
is  nothing  if  circumstances  and  public  sentiment  do  not 
favor  him.  Do  you  suppose  that  it  was  Luther  who 
brought  about  the  Reformation?  No;  it  was  public  opin- 
ion, which  was  in  opposition  to  the  Popes.  Do  you  think 
it  was  Henry  VIII.  who  broke  with  Rome?     No;  it  was 


RISE   TO  FAME  AND  FORTUNE  69 

the  public  sentiment  of  his  nation  which  willed  the  sepa- 
ration. Ah!  }non  Dieu,  in  the  days  of  Francis  I.  France 
came  very  near  becoming  a  Protestant  country.  A  coun- 
cil was  held  at  Fontainebleau,  and  it  was  only  the  Con- 
stable de  Montmorency  who  opposed  the  change.  And 
then  the  national  desire  of  France  to  rule  in  Italy  had 
something  to  do  with  public  opinion  in  favor  of  separation, 
Charles  V.  hesitated  as  to  what  course  he  should  pursue, 
but,  as  sovereign  of  a  country  essentially  Catholic,  he  did 
not  dare  to  favor  the  Reformation.  It  offered  kings  a 
tempting  chance  to  escape  from  under  the  sovereignty 
of  the  Popes,  and  to  confiscate  the  wealth  of  the  clergy." 

"Ah!  if  I  had  stayed  in  Egypt  I  should  have  been  at 
this  moment  Emperor  of  the  Orient.  But  for  Saint  Jean 
d'Acre  the  whole  population  would  have  declared  for  me." 

"I  regret  very  much  that  I  did  not  go  to  Jerusalem, 
but  that  would  have  put  off  my  expedition  to  Acre  two  or 
three  days,  and  time  was  precious.  The  favorite  of  the 
Pasha  at  Jerusalem  was  a  former  French  cantiniere.  She 
wrote  me  that  she  would  do  everything  in  our  favor  that 
was  in  her  power." 

"Egypt  is  the  country  which  now  appears  to  have 
had  the  oldest  civilization.  Gaul,  Germany,  and  Italy 
were  not  far  behind.  But  I  think  that  the  human  race 
came  most  probably  out  of  India  or  China,  which  had 
a  vast  population,  rather  than  from  Egypt,  which  had  only 
a  few  thousand  inhabitants.  All  this  leads  me  to  think 
that  the  world  is  not  so  very  old,  at  least  as  inhabited  by 
man,  and  within  one  or  two  thousand  years  I  am  disposed 
to  accept  the  chronology  appended  to  the  sacred  writings. 
I  think  that  man  was  formed  by  the  heat  of  the  sun  acting 
upon  mud.  Herodotus  tells  us  that  in  his  time  the  slime 
of  the  Nile  changed  into  rats,  and  that  they  could  be  seen 
in  process  of  formation." 


70      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  HELENA 

"  'There  is  no  God  but  God,  and  Mohammed  is  his 
Prophet.'  I  said  that  to  make  myself  popular  among 
Orientals.  At  the  time  of  my  coronation  one  of  the 
announcements  in  the  programme  was  that  I  should  par- 
take of  the  Communion.  When  that  was  shown  to  the 
Pope,  he  declared  that  I  could  not  communicate.  It 
would  be  proper  and  praiseworthy,  he  said,  to  prepare 
myself  for  it,  and  even  to  make  my  confession,  but  that 
he  could  not  advise  me  to  communicate,  as  it  was  not  an 
indispensable  part  of  the  coronation  ceremony.  He 
added,  'With  gentleness  and  patience  we  shall  yet  bring 
him  to  become  a  good  Catholic'  " 

"I  think  it  would  be  possible  to  send  an  expedition  of 
five  thousand  men  into  Egypt  with  orders  to  inundate  the 
country  by  cutting  through  two  leagues  of  land  near  the 
Red  Sea,  which  is  fifteen  feet  higher  than  the  level  of 
the  Nile.'" 

"If  I  had  taken  Acre, — and  that  was  only  prevented  by 
three  wretched  little  ships  which  were  afraid  of  approach- 
ing the  fortress, — I  should  have  gone  on  to  India.  My 
intention  was  to  take  the  turban  at  Aleppo.  I  was  popu- 
lar enough  for  that,  and  I  should  have  found  myself  at  the 
head  of  a  fine  army  and  two  hundred  thousand  auxiliaries. 
The  Orient  only  needed  a  man." 

"I  have  been  reading  three  volumes  on  India.  What 
rascals  those  English  are!  If  I  had  been  able,  while  in 
Egypt,  to  pass  over  into  India  with  a  small  body  of  troops, 
I  could  have  chased  them  out  of  it.  The  East  only  needs 
a  man.    Whoever  is  master  of  Egypt  is  master  of  India." 

"Russia  might  easily  send  twenty  thousand  regular  sol- 
diers and  twenty  thousand  Cossacks  to  conquer  India;  but 

•  On  this  theory,  that  is,  on  the  difference  of  water  level  between  the  Red 
Sea  and  the  Mediterranean,  Lord  Palmerton  based  his  opposition  to  the  Suez 
Canal.-£.  W.  L. 


f 


EMPRESS  J(  )SEP///XE 


RISE   TO  FAME  AND  FORTUNE  71 

it  would  need  generals  of  reputation  to  induce  the  tribes 
and  nations  they  might  meet  upon  their  march  to  become 
their  auxiliaries.  Russia  is  on  the  way  to  acquire 
universal  dominion,  now  that  there  is  no  longer  any 
France,  and  the  balance  of  power  is  broken.  The  Eng- 
lish are  fools  in  their  diplomacy.  In  their  place  I  should 
have  stipulated  in  recent  treaties  to  have  the  sole  right 
to  navigate  the  Indian  and  Chinese  seas,  and  to  carry 
on  commerce  with  those  people  in  Asia.  It  was  ab- 
surd that  Batavia  should  be  left  to  the  Dutch,  the  Isle 
of  Bourbon  [or  Réunion]  to  the  French.  I  am  sure  that 
Monsieur  Dupuis  already  has  established  relations  through 
that  channel  with  the  princes  of  India;  I  used  to  get  my  best 
information  through  the  île  de  France  [the  Mauritius] . 
In  ten  years'  time  the  powers  will  have  got  nothing  out  of 
the  present  arrangement  but  jars.  Nor  should  the  Ameri- 
cans be  allowed  to  navigate  the  China  seas.  What  can 
they  do  against  England?  Now  that  there  is  no  longer 
any  France,  the  English,  with  thirty  ships,  could  blockade 
all  the  coast  of  America.  I  never  could  understand  why 
in  1 8 14  they  sent  over  an  army  of  thirty  thousand  men. 
That  force  was  too  small  to  subdue  the  United  States,  too 
large  if  they  wished  to  force  the  Americans  to  make 
peace.  Had  they  maintained  a  strict  blockade  along  the 
coast  of  the  United  States,  the  Americans  would  have 
been  forced  to  agree  to  all  that  was  required  of  them. 
They  are  nothing  but  shop-keepers  ;  their  glory  is  in  their 
wealth.  In  my  time  they  had  agreed  to  charter  their 
vessels  to  England,  it  was  only  when  I  declared  that  I 
should  consider  them  as  my  enemies  if  they  did  so  that 
they  went  to  war  in  1812.^  They  have  no  army,  and  only 
own  a  few  frigates;  in  the  first  year  of  a  war  they  would 
injure  English  commerce  by  privateers,  which  would  soon 

»  As  this  passage  is  important,  and  seems  somewhat  obscure,  it  may  be 
better  to  give  Napoleon's  words  in  French  as  well  as  in  translation:  "De  mon 
temps,  ils  avaient  consenti  à  conduire  leurs  vaisseaux  en  Angleterre,  et  ce 
n'est  que  sur  ma  déclaration  que  je  les  considérerais  comme  ennemis  qu'ils 
ont  fait  la  guerre." 


72      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

be  captured,  and  America  could  not  endure  a  strict 
blockade  three  years.  The  English  understand  the  sys- 
tem of  blockading  very  well,  the  French  are  not  so  good 
at  it.  The  United  States  are  of  no  account.  At  present 
England  might  give  law  to  the  whole  world,  especially  if 
she  would  recall  her  troops  from  the  Continent,  send 
Wellington  to  his  estates,'  and  remain  only  a  maritime 
power.     Then  she  could  do  what  she  would." 

"Kleber  was  always  thinking  about  women  and 
amusements  in  the  capital.  Glory  in  his  eyes  was  only 
the  road  to  enjoyment,  but  Desaix  loved  glory  for  glory's 
sake.  At  Acre  Kleber  would  not  come  and  inspect  the 
breach  nor  give  me  his  opinion,  so  that  if  the  assault  did 
not  succeed  he  might  be  able  to  give  it  his  disapproval. 
And  yet  I  was  obliged  three  times  to  order  him  not  to 
mount  to  the  assault.  He  wanted  to  march  at  the  head 
of  the  troops.  He  was  capable  of  the  very  greatest 
things  when  he  had  to  choose  between  glory  and  dishonor. 
He  had  no  talent  for  administration;  and  he  disapproved 
my  system  of  cajoling  the  sheiks  at  Cairo.  He  gave  two 
hundred  blows  with  a  stick  to  the  Sheik  Sada,  a  descend- 
ant of  the  Prophet,  and  so  he  got  himself  assassinated; 
whilst  I,  who  treated  the  sheiks  with  marked  kindness, 
was  thrice  warned  by  them  of  plots  formed  against  me  in 
the  name  of  religion.  Kleber  fought  at  Heliopolis  because 
some  people  spoke  lightly  of  him.  It  was  Keith's  letter 
which  was  the  cause.  He  never  consulted  any  one. 
Without  intending  it,  he  deceived  the  English  by  writing 
a  letter  to  France,  saying  he  had  only  five  thousand  men. 
His  letter,  being  intercepted  by  the  English,  induced  them 
to  attempt  their  expedition.  Sidney  Smith  behaved  very 
well  under  the  circumstances. 

"Desaix  was  quite  another  man.  If  I  had  left  him  in 
Egypt  I  should  have  retained  my  conquest." 

'  Nothing  ever  convinced  Napoleon  that  Wellington,  after  his  success  at 
Waterloo,  would  not  aim  at  becoming,  like  himself,  the  world's  great  con- 
queror.—iS.  W.  L. 


RISE   TO  FAME  AND  FORTUNE  73 

Gourgaud  says:  "Yes,  Kleber  has  a  good  reputation; 
his  campaign  was  very  fine  upon  the  Rhine."  The  Em- 
peror replies  that  he  had  all  the  faults  and  also  the  good 
qualities  natural  to  a  very  tall  man.' 

i8  Brumaire. 

"A  short  time  after  my  return  from  Egypt,  Barras 
asked  me  to  dine  with  him.  We  were  only  four  at  table, 
the  Due  de  Lauraguais,  who  was  there  as  a  kind  of  buffoon; 
a  sort  of  prefect  of  the  palais  of  the  Luxembourg;  and 
myself.     In  the  middle  of  the  dinner  Barras  said  to  me, 

'The  Republic  is  in  a  bad  way I  want  to  retire 

and  to  give  up  public  business.  You,  General,  are  for- 
tunate in  having  nothing  to  do  with  politics.  Your  career 
is  military.  You  are  about  to  place  yourself  once  more 
at  the  head  of  the  Army  of  Italy,  and  to  repair  our  re- 
verses. The  Republic  is  in  so  bad  a  state  that  nothing 
but  a  President  can  save  it;  and  I  see  no  one  but  General 
Hédouville  who  would  suit  us.     What  do  you  think? '^ 

"I  answered  with  a  manner  calculated  to  convince  him 
that  I  was  not  his  dupe.  He  looked  down,  and  muttered 
a  few  remarks  that  at  once  decided  me.  From  his  apart- 
ment in  the  Luxembourg,  I  went  down  to  that  of  Sieyès, 
who  told  me  that  the  Republic  was  at  its  last  gasp,  and 
that  a  change  must  be  made.  I  told  him  I  had  made  up 
my  mind  to  act  with  him.  That  same  evening,  when  I 
returned  home,  I  found  Fouché,  Real,  and  Roederer 
waiting  for  me.  I  told  them  about  my  dinner,  and  what 
had  been  said  by  Barras.  Real  exclaimed,  'Ah!  what  a 
fool!  What  a  fool!'  Fouché,  who  was  attached  to 
Barras,  hastened  to  reproach  him  for  his  want  of  tact,  and 
the  next  morning  at  eight  o'clock,  before  I  was  out  of  bed, 

•  Napoleon,  who  was  of  short  stature,  expressed  this  opinion  of  tall  men 
on  several  occasions. 

»  Barras  was  inclined  to  accept  the  alliance  of  the  Royalists.  Sieyès,  who 
bad  cast  in  his  lot  with  the  Republicans  in  1789,  was  not  in  favor  of  making 
terms  with  the  Bourbons.  The  Hcdouville  proposed  by  Barras  (probably  as  a 
man  of  straw)  was  a  general  who  never  attained  distinction.— .£.  W.  L. 


74      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  HELENA 

I  was  told  that  Barras  had  called  to  see  me,  about  some- 
thing very  important.  I  said  he  might  come  in.  He  told 
me  that  he  had  come  to  speak  to  me  about  our  conversa- 
tion the  evening  before.  That  he  had  thought  it  over, 
and  concluded  that  Hédouville  was  not  a  fit  man  for  Presi- 
dent, and  that  I  alone  could  fill  the  position.  In  my  turn 
I  dissembled.  I  assured  him  that  I  should  obey  whomso- 
ever the  nation  might  select.  As  for  myself,  I  was  ill  in 
bed,  as  he  might  see,  suffering  from  a  change  of  climate 
from  dry  to  damp,  and  as  he  had  told  me  the  day  before, 
my  road  was  marked  out  for  me.  I  should  only  seek  to 
be  placed  at  the  head  of  the  Army  of  Italy.  He  tried  to 
bring  me  over  to  his  own  plans,  saying,  'Now  see;  I  will 
be  whatever  you  decide;  white  if  you  will,  black  if  you 
wish  it.'  But  I  had  given  my  word  to  Sieyès.  It  was 
too  late.  Possibly,  had  it  not  been  for  that  piece  of 
stupid  finesse  on  the  part  of  Barras,  at  his  dinner  table,  I 
might  have  gone  in  with  him.  For  in  truth  he  had  shown 
me  much  kindness. 

"Gohier,  who  loved  good  cheer,  and  was  a  simple- 
minded  fellow,  often  came  to  my  house.  I  did  not  know 
whether  he  considered  himself  of  my  party,  but  I  knew 
that  he  paid  court  to  my  wife.  Every  day  at  four  o'clock 
he  came  to  my  house.  When  I  had  fixed  on  the  i8th 
Brumaire,^  as  my  day,  I  thought  I  would  set  a  trap  for  him. 
When  a  conspiracy  is  in  progress  one  has  the  right  to  do 
anything.  So  I  told  Josephine  she  must  flatter  him  by 
inviting  him  to  breakfast  with  heron  the  l/th  Brumaire  at 
eight  o'clock.  I  intended  at  that  hour  to  make  him, 
whether  he  would  or  not,  get  on  horseback  and  accom- 
pany me.     He  was  President  of  the  Directory,  and   his 

'  At  this  date  (Nov.,  i7gg,)  there  were  five  Directors:  Barras,  Sieyès, 
Moulin,  Gohier,  and  Roger-Ducos.  After  the  success  of  General  Bonaparte  at 
Saint  Cloud  they  all  resigned,  and  left  the  field  open  for  a  new  arrangement. 
On  Napoleon's  return  from  Egypt  he  is  said  to  have  exclaimed,  apostrophizing 
the  Directory:  "What  have  you  done  with  that  fair  France  that  1  left  so  pros- 
perous? For  peace  1  find  war;  for  the  wealth  of  Italy  taxation  and  poverty. 
Where  are  the  100,000  brave  Frenchmen  with  whom  I  fought?  Where  are  the 
companions  of  my  glory?    Tbey  are  dead!" — E.  W.L. 


RISE   TO  FAME  AND  FORTUNE  75 

presence,  I  thought,  might  prove  very  useful.  But  he 
sent  word  that  there  seemed  so  much  disturbance  afoot 
in  Paris,  that  he  must  remain  in  session  with  the  other 
Directors,  and  that  he  would  come  to 'second  breakfast' 
with  us  at  eleven  o'clock." 

"When  Barras  saw  Sieyès  mount  his  horse,  he  laughed 
at  him,  saying:  'Who  ever  saw  an  abbé  on  horseback?' 
Half  an  hour  later  they  came  and  told  him  that  the  Coun- 
cils had  assembled,  and  that  Sieyès  was  with  me.  He 
then  swore  that  if  he  could  have  known  that,  he  would 
have  fired  a  pistol  shot  at  Sieyès  through  the  window. 
Shortly  after  I  sent  Monsieur  de  Talleyrand  to  him  to  ask 
for  his  resignation. 

"Moulin  was  a  good  man.  He,  too,  came  to  my 
housp  every  day.  He  thought  that  everything  was  going 
badly,  that  such  a  state  of  things  could  not  last,  and  he 
asked  me  to  give  him  plans  for  a  new  political  campaign. 
As  for  Gohier,  he  thought  everything  all  right.  If  he  had 
good  dinners,  he  cared  little  for  anything  else. 

"Carnot^  did  some  very  abominable  things  during  the 
Reign  of  Terror.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Committee 
of  Public  Safety.  You  may  see  his  name  at  the  bottom 
of  all  their  orders  to  shed  blood.  He  showed  great  cour- 
age on  the  9th  Thermidor  in  defending  Billaud-Varennes 
and  Collot  d'Herbois.  When  he  saw  how  people  held 
him  in  horror  on  account  of  his  connection  with  the  Com- 
mittee of  Public  Safety,  he  threw  himself  into  the  opposite 
party,  until  the  1 8th  Fructidor.  Barras  detested  him;  he 
told  him  in  presence  of  the  whole  Directory  that  he  wanted 
to  kill  him,  and  fiung  an  inkstand  at  his  head.  In  short, 
he  is  a  man  without  much  ability,  but  he  is  honest.  His 
work  on  the  defence  of  strongholds  is  absurd.  Such  a 
treatise  may  do  us  much  harm,  for  foreigners  will  hardly 

'  Carnot  was  expelled  from  the  Directory  on  the  i8th  Fructidor.  He  went 
into  exile,  and  for  some  months  was  believed  to  be  dead. — E.  VV.  L. 


76      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

be  able  to  imagine  that  the  man  who  wrote  it  could  have 
played  a  great  part  in  our  affairs."  ' 

•  It  seems  remarkable  that  Napoleon  talked  so  little  to  Gourgaud  about 
his  appointment  as  Consul  or  the  events  of  the  i8th  Brumaire.  On  the 
morning  of  the  17th,  accompanied  by  a  large  concourse  of  officers  on  horse- 
back and  in  uniform,  he  set  out  at  an  early  hour,  ostensibly  to  review  three 
regiments  of  dragoons  drawn  up  in  the  Champs  Élysêes. 

At  the  same  early  hour  the  Council  of  the  Ancients  in  session  at  the 
Tuileries  passed  two  dscrees:  one  giving  command  of  all  troops  in  and  about 
Paris  to  General  Bonaparte;  the  other  ordering  both  bodies  of  the  Legislature 
(that  of  the  Ancients  answering  to  our  Senate,  and  that  of  the  Five  Hundred 
answering  to  our  House  of  Representatives),  to  transfer  their  sittings  to  the 
Château  at  Saint  Cloud.  Then  the  next  morning,  after  some  slight  parlia- 
mentary opposition,  they  were  driven  forth  by  soldiers,  and  their  sitting  was 
adjourned  until  the  middle  of  February.  Meantime  a  Provisional  Consulate 
was  appointed,  the  provisional  consuls  being  Bonaparte,  Sieyès  and  Ducos.  A 
great  revolution  had  been  accomplished  without  the  effusion  of  blood.  At 
once  the  Provisional  Consuls  proceeded  to  pass  measures  tending  to  restore 
prosperity  and  tranquillity  to  France.  Then  the  great  soldier  showed  himself 
a  great  statesman  and  a  great  financier.  Order  was  introduced  into  the 
system  of  finance;  the  collection  and  expenditure  of  the  revenue  was  arranged 
on  a  better  footing.  Above  all  the  heathenish  worship  of  the  goddess  of 
reason  was  put  an  end  to.  Churches  were  reopened  for  divine  service,  and 
the  credit  of  all  this  was  wholly  due  to  Napoleon,  who  had  to  oppose  the  "philo- 
sophic" principles  of  his  colleagues. 

The  unfortunate  émigrés,  shipwrecked  when  escaping  from  France 
(known  as  the  naufragés  de  Calais),  were  set  at  liberty  instead  of  being 
detained  in  prison  waiting  for  deliverance  by  the  guillotine.  Lafayette  and 
other  Revolutionists  who  were  in  exile  were  restored  to  their  homes,  Lazare 
Carnot  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  War  Department,  and  set  to  work  at 
once  to  reorganize  the  army.  Next,  peace  was  concluded  with  the  Chouans  in 
La  Vendée.  The  principal  leaders  submitted  themselves  to  the  new  govern- 
ment, all  but  Georges  Cadoudal  who,  however,  had  a  private  interview  with 
the  Chief  Consul  at  the  Tuileries,  when  nothing  was  accomplished. 

A  new  Constitution  was  proclaimed,  December  14,  i7g9,iwhich  placed  all 
power  in  the  hands  of  three  Consuls:  Bonaparte,  First  Consul;  Cambacérès, 
Second  Consul,  and  Lebrun,  Third.  Napoleon,  in  a  speech,  assured  the  peo- 
ple "The  new  government  has  been  founded  on  the  great  principles  in  which 
the  Revolution  originated.  Now,  therefore,  the  Revolution  is  ended."— 
E.  W,L 


CHAPTER   III. 

CAMPAIGN    OF    MARENGO. 

1799-1802. 

Napoleon's  Colleagues  in  the  Consulate. — Sec- 
ond Campaign  in  Italy. — Royalists  in  France. 
— Projects  of  Assassination. 


Napoleon's  Colleagues  in  the  Consulate. 

"Lebrun  was  an  earnest  defender  of  the  Third  Estate, 
and  could  not  endure  the  old  nobility.  Nevertheless, 
according  to  documents  found  among  his  papers  by  Mon- 
sieur de  Blacas,  it  was  he  who  drew  up  the  Constitution 
for  the  Senate  in  1814.  I  spoke  to  him  in  1815 
about  this,  but  not  severely.  He  made  amends  for  it 
by  a  beautiful  speech.  He  must  have  accumulated  a 
large  fortune. 

"Cambacérès,  too,  would  have  tried  to  make  terms 
with  the  Bourbons,  if  he  had  not  voted  in  the  Convention 
for  the  death  of  the  King.  He  was  the  opposite  to 
Lebrun  in  his  appreciation  of  the  nobility,  and  was  the 
defender-in-chief  of  all  abuses.  I  did  much  less  for  him, 
for  he  was  already  well  known,  than  I  did  for  Lebrun. 
Cambacérès  on  the  13th  Vendémiaire  came  very  near  being 
made  a  Director,  but  his  competitors  made  a  denunciation 
against  him,  and  although  it  was  false,  and  he  proved 
himself  entirely  innocent,  the  accusation  made  him  lose  a 
large  number  of  votes.  '  '  ' 

*  Lebrun,  under  the  Empire,  was  made  Duke  of  Piacenza  and  head  of 
the  Department  of  Finance.  He  died  in  1824.  Cambacérès  became  Arch- 
ChanceMor  of  the  Empire  and  President  of  the  Senate.  He  was  an  experi- 
enced and  sagacious  lawyer,  and  was  of  great  assistance  to  Napoleon.  He 
died  in  1824.— £■.  W.  L. 

n 


78      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  //ELENA 

Second  Campaign  in  Italy. 

"As  I  was  making  my  way  into  Italy  for  my  second 
campaign,  and  was  climbing  on  foot  the  Mont  Tarare,  in 
company  with  Duroc,  we  met  an  old  woman,  who  hated 
the  Bourbons  and  who  told  us  she  wanted  to  see  the  First 
Consul.  I  answered,  'Bah! — tyrant  for  tyrant — they  are 
just  the  same  thing!'  'No!  not  so,'  she  replied.  'Louis 
XVI.  was  the  King  of  the  nobles;  Bonaparte  is  the  King 
of  the  people.'  '" 

"An  unsuccessful  attack  made  on  Fort  Bard  before  I 
arrived  had  discouraged  the  troops.  Berthier  had  lost  his 
head.  Happily  I  arrived  in  time,  and  showed  them  how 
to  pass  the  defile.  If  I  could  not  have  got  our  artillery 
through  the  pass  it  would  have  been  very  dangerous  for 
me,  but  I  should  have  kept  on  with  the  infantry,  and 
should  have  joined  Tureau,  who  had  plenty  of  cannon, 
having  Grenoble  in  his  rear.  At  Stradella  I  came  very 
near  losing  everything.  Ott  had  attacked  Lannes,  and 
had  established  himself  at  Pavia.    I  drove  him  out.    Some 

'  The  First  Consul,  as  soon  as  he  had  restored  some  order  in  France, 
hastened  to  join  his  forces  in  Italy.  The  army  that  two  years  before  he  had 
left  victorious,  well  organized,  and  in  high  spirits,  had  been  disheartened  by 
repeated  defeats  and  disasters.  Austria,  having  resumed  the  war,  had 
recovered  Lombardy;  Massena  was  closely  besieged  in  Genoa;  Suchet  had 
been  driven  over  the  French  frontier.  Napoleon  decided  to  pour  his  forces  in 
four  columns  over  the  Alps,  he  himself  accompanying  the  one  under  Lannes, 
which  had  the  task  of  greatest  difficulty. 

This  passage  of  the  Great  Saint  Bernard  forms  one  of  the  most  wonderful 
acts  in  modern  warfare.  The  guns  were  drawn  up  the  mountain  on  sledges  by 
hand,  a  hundred  or  more  men  to  a  gun.  Napoleon  himself  walked  beside  his 
soldiers,  encouraging  their  exertions.  When  the  first  mountain  was  crossed 
another  tremendous  difficulty  presented  itself.  A  narrow  passage  into  the 
Vale  of  Aosta  was  defended  by  Fort  Bard.  Napoleon,  hastily  summoned 
to  the  spot,  found  his  men  in  confusion.  He  climbed  a  steep  cliff  which 
overlooked  the  fortress  and  the  little  town  through  which  his  army  and  its 
artillery  must  pass.  A  single  cannon  was  dragged  to  the  top  of  this  clitî  up 
slippery  goat-paths.  Napoleon  placed  it  himself,  and  pointed  it  with  such  skill 
that  it  silenced  the  fort's  principal  battery.  As  night  fell,  the  French  quietly 
gained  possession  of  the  town.  They  strewed  its  street  with  straw  to  deaden 
the  noise  they  dared  not  make;  they  covered  their  guns  with  branches  of  trees, 
and  dragged  them  safely  through  the  town  under  the  very  guns  of  Fort  Bard 
without  exciting  the  suspicions  of  the  Austrian  garrison. 

Of  all  this,  marvellous  as  it  seems  when  written  in  history,  Napoleon  to 
Gourgaud  said  not  a  word.— .£.  H''.  L. 


CAMPAIGN  OF  MARENGO  79 

thought  I  ought  to  wait  for  Melas  at  Stradella.  I  stayed 
there  two  days,  but  as  he  did  not  come  I  feared  he  might 
be  faUing  back  on  Suchet,  so  I  marched  on,  and  detached 
Desaix  to  move  on  Rivalto.  When  I  saw  that  the  enemy 
was  not  occupying  Marengo,  I  no  longer  doubted  that  he 
had  recrossed  the  Bormida.  It  seems  that  during  the 
night  Melas,  seeing  that  I  was  following  him,  and  perceiv- 
ing that  he  would  be  placed  between  two  fires,  resolved 
to  give  battle,  and  crossed  the  Bormida  by  three  bridges, 
whose  existence  I  was  not  aware  of,  but  as  I  had  posses- 
sion of  Marengo  he  was  not  able  to  deploy  his  forces.  I 
had  that  morning  recalled  Desaix,*  and  during  the  battle 
I  changed  my  line  of  operations,  placing  him  on  my  right. 
The  Austrians  attacked  my  right  eji  masse,  attempting  to 
recover  their  former  line,  but  Desaix  had  arrived,  and 
Kellerman  charged.  Melas,  thinking  he  had  won  the 
battle,  lay  down  very  weary.  His  troops  were  driven  in, 
and  repassed  the  Bormida.  It  is  a  question  whether  Melas 
was  right  to  capitulate  instead  of  falling  back  on  Genoa, 
where  at  worst  he  could  have  embarked  his  army.  He 
abandoned  his  strongholds,  but  he  saved  his  men;  audit  is 
soldiers  who  are  most  needed  in  warfare  !  Maybe  he  acted 
wisely;  but  in  his  place  I  do  not  think  I  should  have  done 
the  same.  Anyhow,  the  campaign,  brilliant  as  it  was,  did 
not  lead  to  peace,  and  Austria  saved  her  army." 

"When  Melas  evacuated  Turin  he  left  a  garrison  in 
the  citadel.  Tureau  took  the  city  and  blockaded  the 
citadel.     It  was  intended  that  he  should  make  a  junction 

'  The  first  battle  fought  after  Napoleon  entered  Italy  was  that  of  Monte- 
bello,  in  which  Lannes  distinguished  himself,  and  subsequently  he  was  made 
Duke  of  Montebello  in  recognition  of  his  gallantry.  Surmounting  many  ob- 
stacles, but  tortured  by  many  delays,  Desaix,  who  had  been  recalled  from 
Egypt,  did  not  reach  his  friend  and  commander  until  the  St.  Bernard  had 
been  crossed.  He  was  just  in  time  to  do  great  service  in  the  battle  of  Marengo, 
fought  June  13,  1800,  four  weeks  and  five  days  after  Napoleon  had  left  Paris  to 
put  himself  at  the  head  of  his  army.  For  a  short  time  Napoleon  and  his 
troops  were  in  great  peril,  when  Desaix  with  a  fresh  column  of  five  thousand 
grenadiers  changed  the  fortune  of  the  day.  But  Desaix  fell  dead  at  the  first 
fire,  shot  through  the  head.  By  this  one  battle  Napoleon  regained  all  that  bad 
been  lost  in  Italy  by  the  unfortunate  campaign  in  the  preceding  year. 


8o      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

with  Chabran,  who  was  trying  to  take  Fort  Bard;  but  his 
forces  were  so  weak  that  all  he  could  do  was  to  invest  the 
citadel.  When  Marengo  was  fought,  Chabran  had  taken 
Bard,  occupied  Aosta  and  Chivasso,  and  guarded  the  left 
bank  of  the  Po.  The  divisions  of  Mounier,  Boudet, 
Vatrin,  and  Victor  were  at  Marengo.  Loison  was  besieg- 
ing Pizzighetone,  occupying  Cremona,  and  observing  Man- 
tua. Moncey  was  coming  down  the  St.  Gothard  with 
Lorge  and  Lapoype;  each  of  these  divisions  had  four 
thousand  five  hundred  men.  During  the  battle,  Lapoype 
occupied  Pavia  and  the  right  bank  of  the  Po,  so  as  to  be 
able  to  deploy  on  the  Ticino,  if  Melas  tried  to  pass  on 
the  left  bank  so  as  to  get  out  by  way  of  Milan.  Chabran 
and  Lapoype  might  have  formed  a  corps  of  twelve  thou- 
sand to  fifteen  thousand  men,  which,  under  Moncey, 
would  have  guarded  the  left  bank  of  the  Ticino  and  would 
have  given  our  army  time  to  repass  the  Po,  to  get  on  the 
other  bank  of  the  Ticino,  and  hinder  Melas  from  crossing 
it.  At  Marengo  I  had:  Vatrin  with  five  thousand  men; 
Mounier  with  five  thousand;  the  Consular  Guard,  one 
thousand;  Boudet  with  six  thousand;  Victor  with  six 
thousand;  and  the  cavalry,  three  thousand,  which  made 
about  thirty  thousand  men.  I  had  detached  Tureau  on 
Turin,  with  three  thousand  men;  Chabran  and  Lapoype 
were  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Po,  with  five  thousand; 
Lorge  was  on  the  march  with  five  thousand;  Loison  at 
Pizzighetone  had  six  thousand:  altogether  about  twenty 
thousand  men.  If  I  could  have  waited  a  fortnight  I  might 
have  had  under  me  fifty  thousand  men.  But  it  was  abso- 
lutely necessary  to  besiege  the  citadel  of  Turin,  and  that 
of  Milan  (three  thousand  men),  Cremona  and  Arona  (fif- 
teen hundred).  Lecchi  took  that  in  charge.  Pizzighe- 
tone required  twelve  hundred  men,  and  Piacenza  eleven 
hundred.  We  had  to  watch  Mantua  and  the  corps  that 
was  coming  up  behind  the  Frioul,  which  grew  larger  day 
by  day;  in  short,  we  had  to  occupy  the  left  bank  of  the 


CAMPAIGN  OF  MARENGO  8 1 

Po,  for  the  question  was  not  merely  to  conquer  Melas,  but 
to  capture  him,  and  if  these  corps  had  not  been  at  hand 
he  might  have  crossed  the  Po  at  Valenza,  have  marched 
rapidly  to  the  Ticino,  crossed  it,  gained  Cassano,  and 
have  been  joined  by  the  troops  in  his  rear,  before  my 
army  could  have  got  back  into  the  Milanese.  The  French 
army  was  not  in  its  natural  position;  it  had  its  rear  on 
Mantua  and  on  Austria.  Its  only  line  of  retreat  was  by 
the  left  bank  of  the  Po;  it  was  therefore  impossible  to 
leave  this  line  of  communication  undefended.  In  any 
ordinary  case  the  general-in-chief  on  the  eve  of  a  battle 
ought  to  recall  all  his  detachments.  In  this  case  it  was 
not  possible,  without  losing  all  the  advantages  of  the  cam- 
paign. If  we  had  been  defeated,  we  could  not  have  been 
reproached  for  this  fault,  to  which  justly  they  would  have 
attributed  the  loss  of  the  battle.  The  advantage  of  the 
position  occupied  by  my  detached  troops  would  then  have 
been  made  manifest,  since  the  main  army  would  have 
owed  its  safety  to  them,  and  would  have  been  able  to  wait 
for  fresh  reinforcements  from  Switzerland  and  France. 
Then  we  should  have  been  in  a  position  on  the  left  bank 
of  the  Po.  All  Melas  could  have  hoped  to  do  was  to  fall 
back  on  Mantua,  and  to  resume  his  natural  position." 

"Massena'    might  have  held  out   ten  days  longer  in 

Genoa He  had  sixteen  thousand  men  in  garrison, 

and  the  inhabitants  amounted  to  one  hundred  and  sixty 
thousand.  He  could  have  got  provisions  if  he  had  seized 
them  from  the  inhabitants.  A  few  old  men  and  some 
women  might  have  died  of  hunger,  but  then  he  would  not 
have  surrendered  Genoa.  If  one  thinks  always  of  human- 
ity— only  of  humanity — one  should  give  up  going  to  war. 
I  don't  know  how  war  is  to  be  conducted  on  the  rose- 

'  Massena,  shut  up  in  Genoa,  not  knowing  that  help  was  near  at  hand, 
surrendered  on  most  honorable  terms  to  General  Ott,  the  Austrian  commander, 
and  Lord  Keith,  the  Admiral  of  the  English  fleet,  which  lay  in  the  harbor, 
etiectually  preventing  escape  or  supplies. — E.  W.  L. 


82      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

water  plan.  The  whole  population  of  Genoa  was  not  worth 
the  sixteen  thousand  soldiers  who  were  there,  and  who 
would  have  formed  the  framework  of  an  army  of  forty- 
five  thousand  men.  I  don't  understand  either  why 
Massena's  defence  of  Genoa  should  be  spoken  of  as  a 
marvel;  the  place  was  well  fortified.  Massena  was  very 
wrong  to  leave  it  by  sea.  He  had  hoarded  money,  how- 
ever, and  was  anxious  to  see  it  in  safety.  He  ought  to  have 
marched  by  land,  to  have  joined  Suchet  on  the  Var,  and 
to  have  attacked  the  Austrians.  Never  speak  to  me  of 
generals  who  care  for  money.  That  was  what  made  me 
fight  the  battle  of  Eylau.  Ney  wanted  to  reach  Elbing 
to  put  himself  in  funds." 

Royalists  in  France. 

"At  all  times  the  RoyaHsts  have  exercised  in  France  a 
great  influence  on  pubhc  opinion.  In  the  interview  I  had 
with  Hyde  de  Neuville  after  the  i8th  Brumaire,  he  said  to 
me:  'Look  at  Pichegru;  we  have  made  a  great  general  of 
him  since  he  joined  our  party.  If  you  will  declare  for 
our  cause,  in  the  course  of  a  few  days  you  will  see  what 
is  public  opinion  in  the  capital  ;  the  use  of  our  mots  d 'ordre 
alone  would  rally  round  you  the  most  fervent  Royahsts."" 
Gourgaud  remarked  that  Madame  de  Guiche  was  very 
charming  and  made  a  great  impression  on  Parisian  society; 
but  as  soon  as  she  spoke  of  the  Bourbons  the  First  Con- 
sul knew  her  for  their  agent,  and  turned  away.  Josephine 
told  her  husband  that  if  he  would  favor  the  Restoration  of 
the  Bourbons,  Louis  XVIII.  would  place  a  statue  in  the 
Place  du  Carrousel  in  which  he  should  be  represented  as  a 

'Louis  XVIII.  (the  Comte  de  Lille)  addressed  a  letter  to  Bonaparte, 
which  he  persuaded  Lebrun  to  present  to  him.  He  said:  "You  cannot  secure 
the  happiness  of  France  without  me,  and  I  on  the  other  hand  can  do  nothing 
without  you.  Hasten  then  to  point  out  what  posts  and  dignities  will  satisfy 
you  and  your  friends."  The  First  Consul  answered  most  courteously.  "Your 
Royal  Highness  must  not  think  of  appearing  in  France.  You  could  not  do  so 
without  marching  over  500,000  corpses." 

About  the  same  time  the  beautiful  Duchesse  de  Guiche  came  to  Paris 
and  endeavored  to  interest  Josephine,  who  was  not  unwilling,  in  the  same 
cause,— £.  W,  L. 


CAMPAIGN  OF  MARENGO  83 

genius  placing  a  crown  upon  the  King's  head.  Napoleon 
stopped  her  by  exclaiming,  "And  my  body  will  be  under 
the  pedestal." 

"A  short  time  after  Marengo  Louis  XVIII.  wrote  to 
me.  The  Abbé  de  Montesquiou  gave  the  letter  to  the 
Chief  Judge,  who  gave  it  to  me.  It  was  in  these  terms: 
'Monsieur  de  Bonaparte  has  no  connection  with  those  who 
have  governed  France  hitherto.  But  you  have  too  much 
good  judgment,  Monsieur,  to  think  that  the  present  state 
of  things  can  last.  Say  what  place,  what  rank,  you  would 
hke  to  occupy.  I  leave  the  choice  entirely  with  you.  I 
only  desire  the  tranquillity  of  the  French  people.  I  will 
give  them  happiness,  and  you  will  give  them  glory.'  " 

The  First  Consul  gave  the  Abbé  de  Montesquiou  an 
order  at  once  to  leave  Paris,  with  an  answer  that  he  could 
not  desert  those  who  had  raised  him  to  the  chief  magistracy, 
but  that  he  would  do  all  he  could  to  justify  the  good  opin- 
ion expressed  of  him  by  the  Comte  de  Lille,  whom  he 
begged  to  let  him  know  where  he  intended  to  take  up  his 
residence,  to  which  place  he  might  be  assured  the  good 
wishes  of  the  French  people  would  follow  him. 

Projects  of  Assassination. 

"I  knew  all  the  injustice  of  the  arrest  of  Ceracchi^ 
because  the  agents  of  Sotin's  police  were  men  who  had 
followed  me  in  Vendémiaire,  when  I  commanded  in  Paris, 
and  they  told  me  about  it.     It  was  a  project  of  assassina- 

•  Fanatics  among  the  Jacobins,  accustomed  to  look  with  favor  on  tyran- 
nicide, began  to  form  plans  for  the  "taking  ofï"  of  the  First  Consul.  An 
Italian  sculptor  named  Ceracchi,  who  had  once  made  a  bust  of  Napoleon  when 
he  was  General  Bonaparte,  with  the  army  in  Italy,  arranged  a  plan  with  several 
Jacobin  confederates  to  surround  and  stab  the  First  Consul  in  the  lobby  of  the 
opera  house.  The  plot  was  revealed  to  the  police,  and  the  conspirators  were 
put  in  prison,  where  they  associated  with  desperadoes  of  the  Chouan  faction. 
Together  with  them  they  planned  to  blow  up  the  First  Consul  by  an  infernal 
machine.  This  plot,  the  means  by  which  it  was  to  be  carried  out  as  Napoleon 
went  in  a  carriage  to  the  opera,  its  ill  success,  and  the  destruction  of  harmless 
bystanders,  was  exactly  paralleled  in  the  attempt  to  blow  up  Napoleon  III., 
1858.  Napoleon  showed  the  utmost  calm  courage  at  the  time,  but  seems  ever 
after  that  to  have  had  fears  of  assassination,  even  when  in  the  custody  of  Sir 
Hudson  Lowe  at  St.  Helena.— £.  W.  L. 


84      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  HELENA 

tion  intended  not  to  kill,  but  to  create  terror.  I  went  to 
the  Directory  and  reproached  Sotin  and  the  other  Direc- 
tors, with  their  conduct.  I  astonished  them  greatly.  They 
made  no  reply.  But  afterwards  they  had  much  to  say 
against  me." 

"No  people  has  had  more  kings  assassinated  than  the 
French,  a  nation  by  no  means  easy  to  govern.  Very  few 
Frenchmen,  however,  have  attempted  to  assassinate  me. 
The  time  when  I  incurred  the  most  danger  was  at  Schon- 
brunn,  and  the  man  was  named  Staps.  I  sent  for  him 
to  come  and  speak  with  me.  He  was  a  great  fanatic. 
He  told  me  that  he  wanted  to  kill  me  to  prevent  more 
bloodshed.  I  asked  why,  then,  he  had  not  thought  of 
killing  the  Emperor  Francis.  He  repHed  that  that  was 
different;  the  Emperor  was  a  fool  whom  another  fool 
would  succeed.  He  kept  bringing  in  quotations  from  the 
Holy  Scriptures.  He  was  a  cold,  stolid  fanatic,  but  he 
appeared  to  me  a  little  moved  when  I  asked  him  if  he 
would  attempt  the  same  thing  over  again,  provided  I  par- 
doned him?  He  hesitated,  and  then  replied:  'No,  I 
should  think  that  I  had  done  my  duty,  but  that  God  did 
not  intend  I  should  succeed.'  But  as  he  said  these  words 
he  did  not  seem  to  feel  them.  I  kept  him  fasting  twenty- 
four  hours,  and  then  I  questioned  him  once  more.  He 
was  just  the  same.     He  was  shot. 

I  have  always  had  a  dread  of  madmen.  One  night  I 
hired  a  box  in  the  theatre,  and  went  incognito  with  Duroc. 
A  man  came  up  to  me.  I  thought  he  wanted  to  hand  me 
a  petition,  but  he  cried:  'I  am  in  love  with  the  Em- 
press!' I  answered:  'You  seem  to  have  chosen  an 
extraordinary  confidant.'  Dilroc  then  recognized  him  as 
a  madman  who  had  escaped  from  the  Bicêtre,  and  he  was 
arrested.     Madmen  always  talk  of  God  or  kings." 


CHAPTER   IV. 

GOVERNMENT    OF  FRANCE  UNDER  THE 
CONSULATE  AND  THE   EMPIRE. 

Commerce  and  Manufactures.  —  Prefects. — 
Weights  and  Measures. —  Paris  and  the 
Parisians. — Police. — Cabinet  Ministers, Fouché 
and  Talleyrand. — Private  Secretaries,  Bour- 
rienne,   Méneval,   Fain. 


Commerce  and  Manufactures. 

"I  had  great  difificulty  in  getting  a  decree  passed  to 
prohibit  the  importation  of  cotton  yarn.  I  held  a  Coun- 
cil on  the  subject,  and  except  Chaptal,  all  were  against  it. 
They  said  that  our  factories  for  printing  calicoes  would 
suffer,  and  that  we  had  better  do  things  by  degrees. 
Then  and  there  I  took  up  a  pen  and  signed  the  decree, 
saying,  'It  is  decided.'  They  all  thought  it  would  be  the 
ruin  of  our  industries,  and  yet  the  success  of  our  manu- 
factures dates  from  that  day.  I  looked  on  this  affair  as 
a  battle;  in  every  battle  one  runs  risks,  but  in  such  ques- 
tions, as  in  war,  one  has  often  to  act  with  vigor. 

"The  domestic  commerce  of  France  amounts  to  several 
thousand  million  francs.  The  trade  in  grain  alone  is  very 
great.  It  is  difficult  to  establish  cut  and  dried  rules  about 
the  exportation  of  bread  stuffs.  The  measures  adopted 
to  prevent  exportation  when  wheat  reaches  a  certain  price 
do  not  answer  the  end  expected.  It  is  like  the  flow  of 
water:  when  one  makes  dams  to  stop  it,  it  is  too  late. 
One  receives  one  day  a  letter  from  the  prefect  of  some 
department,  telling  one  that  he  has  a  supply  of  wheat 
sufficient  for  two  years,  and  by  the  next  post,  one  may 

85 


S6      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

hear  from  another  official  that  there  is  not  enough  wheat 

in   his    department    to   last  three    months One 

requires  much  experience  and  much  skill  to  know  when 
to  allow  exportation,  and  when  to  prohibit  it.  I  think  I 
possessed  that  skill  myself.  It  is  unjust  that  bread  should 
be  sold  cheap  in  Paris  while  it  is  dear  in  the  country,  but 
then  the  government  is  in  the  capital,  and  soldiers  do  not 
like  to  fire  upon  women  with  children  on  their  backs,  who 
come  and  howl  before  the  bake-shops  of  the  city.  I  asked 
Vanderberg  to  give  me  a  scheme  by  which  the  price  of  a 
four-pound  loaf  might  always  be  twelve  sons.  Store- 
houses for  grain  have  their  advantages  and  their  disad- 
vantages. Nevertheless  I  wished  to  establish  them,  because 
in  times  of  scarcity  more  people  die  of  hunger  than  is 
generally  supposed.  Insufficient  nourishment  ends  in 
death.     In  France,  one  year  in  six  is  a  year  of  scarcity." 

Prefects. 

"A  prefect  ought  to  take  precedence  of  a  brigadier- 
general.  I  never  thought  it  necessary  that  prefects  should 
be  expected  to  give  balls  and  fêtes.  Each  prefect  ought 
to  have  a  wife  who  can  do  the  honors  of  his  position  in  her 
own  house,  and  socially  rally  all  parties.  I  was  wrong  in 
not  hking  to  change  my  prefects  or  my  ministers.  That 
is  right  up  to  a  certain  point.  But  when  a  man  goes  to 
sleep  in  his  position,  he  ought  to  be  superseded.  Change 
gives  a  fresh  impetus  to  all  the  springs." 

Weights  and  Measures. 

"I  never  have  approved  the  system  of  weights  and 
measures  adopted  by  the  Directory,  and  invented  by 
Laplace.  It  is  all  based  on  the  mètre  and  conveys  no 
ideas  to  my  mind.  I  can  understand  the  twelfth  part  of 
an  inch,  but  not  the  thousandth  part  of  a  mètre  [milli- 
mètre] .  The  system  created  much  dissatisfaction  with 
the  Directory.     Laplace  himself  assured  me  that  if,  before 


THE  CONSULATE  AND   THE  EMPIRE       87 

its  adoption,  all  the  objections  I  made  to  it  had  been 
pointed  out  to  him,  he  would  have  recognized  its  defects 
and  have  given  it  up." 

Paris  and  the  Parisians. 

"I  am  fond  of  the  Parisians;  I  have  always  done 
everything  I  could  for  Paris.  I  ought  to  have  done  more 
for  Italy,  but  I  waited.  Before  I  declared  her  independ- 
ent, I  hoped  to  have  a  second  son.  I  would  have  made 
him  King  of  Italy.  I  had  one  foot  in  Italy,  the  other  in 
France;  for  I  am  descended  from  Italians.  My  family 
came  from  Tuscany  two  hundred  years  ago.  Brother 
Bonifacio  Buonaparte,  a  Capuchin,  was  blessed  by  the 
Church.  I  might  have  had  him  canonized.  That  would 
have  rallied  to  me  all  the  Capuchins;  but  how  much  ridi- 
cule it  might  have  brought  on  me!" 

"Paris  ought  to  have  been  fortified,  and  must  yet  be 
fortified.  At  the  present  day  armies  are  so  large  that  the 
strong  places  on  our  frontier  would  not  stop  a  victorious 
army,  and  it  is  a  great  stroke  for  an  army,  flushed  with 
victory,  to  march  on  a  capital,  and  take  possession  of  it. 
But  when  Paris  shall  be  fortified,  the  extent  of  its  walls 
should  be  such  that  it  need  not  fear  bombardment.  I 
always  intended  to  do  this.  I  meant  to  fortify  Montmartre, 
or  some  point  on  the  Seine,  which  Vincennes  does  not 
command  like  the  Arche  de  V Étoile.  But  I  was  always 
restrained  by  the  fear  that  my  fortifications  would  be  un- 
popular with  the  Parisians,  who  would  have  been  sure  to 
see  in  my  forts  and  strongholds  so  many  Bastiles.  I 
spoke  to  Fontaine  '  of  my  intentions,  and  the  Arch  of 
Triumph  was  to  be  so  constructed  as  to  have  a  platform 
on  its  top,  furnished  with  many  guns  of  long  range.  It 
would  have  flanked  Montmartre,  and  would  have  served 
as  a  support  to  other  works  in  the  country  around  the 

'  Fontaine,  an  architect  who  had  built  the  arch  in  the  Place  du  Carrousel. 
~E,  W.L. 


S8      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

capital.  I  should  have  liked  to  build  at  Montmartre  a 
Temple  to  Victory.  It  would,  like  the  Arch,  have  had 
a  platform,  on  which  we  should  have  mounted  cannon, 
and  have  secured  that  important  point  in  the  city's 
defence.  A  few  batteries  of  twenty-four  pounders  below 
would  have  produced  a  good  effect.  In  addition  France 
ought  to  have  a  strongly  fortified  position  on  the  Loire, 
somewhere  near  Tours.  It  is  absurd  to  place  all  the 
depots,  arsenals,  and  factories  that  make  arms,  on  the 
frontier,  exposed  to  be  cut  off  as  soon  as  an  enemy  enters 
on  his  campaign." 

"I  should  have  liked  to  make  my  capital  at  Lyons,  but 
then  I  should  have  had  to  create  everything,  while  Paris 
stands  high  already  among  the  cities  of  France.  I  wanted 
my  capital  to  excel  by  its  splendor  all  other  capitals  in  the 
world.  I  did  everything — or  planned  to  do  everything — 
for  Paris.  I  had  a  dispute  with  the  Pope  because  I 
wanted  him  to  take  up  his  residence  in  Paris,  where  I  was 
bent  on  fitting  up  the  Archiépiscopal  Palace  for  his  abode. 
All  the  provinces  of  France  are  delightful  to  live  in,  but 
my  own  preference  would  be  for  Champagne,  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Brienne,  probably  because  I  lived  there  in  my 
boyhood.  Nice  also  lies  in  the  midst  of  a  beautiful  coun- 
try. I  am  very  fond  of  the  people  of  Lyons,  and  they 
return  my  regard.  Neighbors  of  Italy,  they  know  that  I 
had  placed  the  French  frontier  five  hundred  leagues  away 
from  them.  I  bought  one  hundred  and  thirty  millions' 
worth  of  silks  in  Lyons  and  in  Italy,  and  I  wanted  to  start 
up  their  silk  factories  again.  I  have  torn  Josephine's 
embroidered  dresses,  that  cost  a  hundred  and  fifty  to  two 
hundred  louis,  that  she  might  replace  them  by  others. 
Ah  !  if  I  could  have  governed  France  for  forty  years,  I 
would  have  made  her  the  most  splendid  empire  that  ever 
existed  I  '  ' 


THE  CONSULATE  AND   THE  EMPIRE       S9 

"If  another  Revolution  should  take  place  in  France,  it 
would  be  brought  about  in  Paris.  Paris  is  France  now. 
Paris  has  succeeded  me!" 

Police. 

"It  is  more  dangerous  than  useful,  I  think,  to  open 
private  letters  at  the  Post  Office." 

"The  Police  of  Paris'  causes  more  fear  than  it  does 
harm.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  charlatanism  in  its  pro- 
ceedings. It  is  very  difficult  to  spy  out  what  a  man  is 
doing  every  day.  The  Post  Office  can  give  excellent  infor- 
mation, but  I  am  not  sure  but  that  the  good  is  balanced 
by  the  evil.  Frenchmen  are  so  singular  that  they  often 
write  things  they  do  not  think,  and  thereby  those  who 
inspect  their  letters  are  led  astray.  When  one  violates 
the  privacy  of  letters  one  is  often  led  to  adopt  unjust 
prejudices  and  false  ideas.  Lavalettewas  exactly  the  man 
for  his  place. ^  I  also  had  Laforêt,  who  was  Monsieur  de 
Talleyrand's  man.  One  cannot  read  every  letter,  but 
they  opened  those  of  the  persons  I  pointed  out  to  them, 
especially  those  of  the  ministers  who  stood  near  to  me. 
Fouché  and  Talleyrand  never  wrote  letters,  but  their 
friends  and  their  employees  did,  and  through  these  letters 
we  could  see  what  Fouché  and  Talleyrand  thought. 
Monsieur  Malouet  wrote  down  all  the  discussions  he 
had  with  Fouché,  and  by  this  means  we  could  guess 
what  had  been  Fouché's  words.  Foreign  ministers 
or  diplomatic  agents,  knowing  that  their  mails  were  first 
sent  to  me,  often  wrote  letters  with  the  hope  that  I  should 
read  them.  They  said  what  they  wanted  me  to  know 
concerning  Monsieur  de  Talleyrand      One  day  Monsieur 

'The  Police  in  Paris  are  agents  of  the  Government.  They  are  detec- 
tives, political  spies,  employed  in  secret  service.  The  men  we  call  "police" 
are  in  France  the  gendarmes,  who  keep  order  in  the  streets,  make  arrests,  and 
do  what  we  consider  police  duty. — E.  W.  L. 

'  Lavalette  was  Postmaster  General. 


90     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  HELENA 

de  Luchesini  [the  German  Ambassador]  wrote  to  his 
master  in  cipher  that  I  had  made  an  agreement  with  the 
Russian  Emperor  to  partition  Prussia.  It  was  this  that 
made  the  Prussian  monarch  declare  war.  Talleyrand  did 
all  he  could  to  make  people  believe  that  packages  of  let- 
ters were  sent  to  him  from  the  Post  Ofi&ce,  in  order  to 
prevent  foreign  ministers  from  saying  any  harm  of  him. 
One  day  Mademoiselle  Raucourt  wrote  concerning  him. 
'When  one  wants  him  to  speak  one  can  get  nothing  out 
of  him.  He  is  tight  as  a  tin  box.  But  at  the  close  of  a 
soirée,  in  a  little  group  of  five  or  six  friends,  he  can  gos- 
sip like  any  old  woman.'  This  was  true.  I  joked  Talley- 
rand about  it,  and  he  could  not  understand  whence  I  got 
the  idea.  He  was  astonished  when  I  told  him  it  was  in  a 
letter  from  Raucourt,  relating  a  trip  they  had  made 
together  to  Fontainebleau. 

"If  I  had  had  any  reason  to  mistrust  the  Empress  or 
Prince  Eugene,  Lavalette  would  not  have  aided  me.  He 
never  spoke  about  them;  he  was  entirely  devoted  to  them. 

"Madame  de  Bouille  was  one  of  the  ladies  who  acted 
as  agents  of  the  police.  She  sent  me  in  reports  every 
day.  She  is  now  [1817]  in  the  service  of  the  Duchesse 
de  Berry,  and  I  am  certain  she  informs  the  King  of 
everything  that  concerns  her  mistress.  People  of  that 
sort  are  very  contemptible. 

"Reading  letters  taken  from  the  Post  Office  needs  a 
bureau  particulier — a  separate  department.  The  men 
employed  in  it  are  unknown  to  one  another.  There  is  an 
engraver  attached  to  it,  who  keeps  all  kinds  of  seals  always 
ready. 

"Letters  in  cipher,  no  matter  in  what  language  they 
may  be,  are  always  deciphered.  All  languages  are  trans- 
lated. It  would  be  impossible  to  invent  a  cipher  which 
could  not  be  found  out  by  the  help  of  forty  pages  of  speci- 
mens of  deciphered  despatches,  which  cost  me  six  hun- 
dred thousand  francs! 


THE  CONSULATE  AND   THE  EMPIRE       91 

"Louis  XIV.  invented  the  system;  Louis  XV.  used  it 
to  find  out  the  love  affairs  of  his  courtiers.  I  could  not 
tell  you  exactly  what  service  it  did  for  me,  but  I  am  cer- 
tain it  did  aid  me  a  good  deal,  for  one  day  when  I  re- 
proached Fouché,  telling  him  that  his  police  knew  nothing, 
he  answered,  'Ah!  if  Your  Majesty  would  only  give  me 
the  position  of  examiner  of  the  Post  Office,  I  should  know 
everything  !  ' 

"That  was  the  way  I  learned  all  about  the  ridiculous 
intrigues  of  the  Abbé  de  Pradt.  The  next  morning  at  my 
levee  I  told  him  all  I  knew,  and  then  I  forgave  him.  I 
did  wrong.  But  Heaven  must  have  protected  him.  Any- 
how, I  afterwards  found  him  useful  as  a  spy  among  the 
clergy.  Still  I  ought  to  have  got  rid  of  him.  He  was  too 
fond  of  intrigue." 

"One  day  Madame  Lannes  ^  came  and  told  me  that  her 
husband  was  restless  in  his  sleep;  that  he  was  always 
muttering  about  the  Republic,  about  tyrants,  and  about 
consuls;  that  he  looked  anxious  and  excited,  and  was 
often  visited  by  former  Jacobins.  I  at  once  superseded 
him  in  command  of  my  Guard.  That  was  the  real  cause 
why  he  lost  his  reason,  not  the  deficit  of  three  hundred 
thousand  francs  in  his  accounts,  as  was  supposed.  I  sent 
him  as  ambassador  to  Portugal,  and  replaced  him  by  four 
captains  who  were  entrusted  with  the  command  of  the 
Guard." 

"If  I  had  to  begin  governing  again  I  would  not  do 
precisely  the  same  as  I  did  then.  I  would  look  after 
things  en  masse j  I  would  not  bother  myself  about  details. 
That  is  why  I  repeat  that  the  reading  of  letters  was  less 
useful  to  me  than  to  most  sovereigns." 

"It  was  making  war  on  Russia  that  ruined  me.  That 
opens  another  question;  but  my  system  of  governing  was, 

'  Madame  Lannes— the  Duchesse  de  Montebello. 


92      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  I/ELENA 

I  think,  good  on  the  whole.     I  would  adopt  it  again  if  I 
had  the  chance." 

"I  regret  now  that  I  did  not  walk  about  Paris  incog- 
nito. I  might  possibly  have  been  recognized,  but  I  could 
have  put  on  a  wig.  I  went  out  once  with  Duroc,  at  two 
o'clock  in  the  morning.  The  lamps  at  the  Gate  of  the 
Palace  had  gone  out.  The  next  day  I  reproached  the 
Prefect  of  Police  for  this  neglect.  He  could  not  imagine 
how  I  had  found  it  out." 

"Junot  married  his  wife  for  the  glory  of  being  aUied 
with  the  nobility.     He  had  a  mania  for  nobles."  * 

Cabinet  Ministers — Fouché,    Talleyrand.^ 

The  Emperor  told  us  that  when  he  was  First  Consul 
he  was  informed  that  a  man  had  come  to  Paris  from 
Vienna,  and  had  had  a  secret  interview  with  Fouché.  He 
sent  for  the  man  and  said  :  *  '  Do  you  know  who  I  am?  '  ' 

"Yes." 

"Well,  then,  tell  me  all  you  know,  or  I  will  have  you 
shot." 

The  emissary,  much  alarmed,  said  that  he  had  given 
Fouché  a  sort  of  passport,  by  which  he  might  send  an 
agent  to  Basle  to  confer  with  Metternich.  By  help  of  this 
document  a  trustworthy  agent  to  Metternich  was  de- 
spatched instead.  Bonaparte  had  already  had  four  con- 
versations with  the  emissary  of  Metternich,  and  knew  all 
that  was  to  be  known  of  the  affair.  Fouché,  two  days 
later,  came  in  the  evening  to  see  the  First  Consul,  looking 
much  disconcerted.     He  said  he  had  seen  an  agent  from 

•The  mother  of  Madame  Junot,  the  Duchesse d'Abrantès,  was  descended 
from  the  Princes  of  Trebizond.  Her  daughter  says  that  Napoleon,  when  a 
young  officer  of  artillery,  wished  to  marry  her  mother,  He  always  seems  to 
have  indulged  a  hope  of  becoming  some  day  master  of  the  East,  and  may  have 
thought  this  alliance  would  be  a  stroke  of  policy. — E.  W.  L. 

'As  Napoleon  had  Fouché  for  his  Minister  of  Police,  and  Talleyrand  for 
his  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  both  under  the  Consulate  and  the  Empire,  all 
that  he  said  of  them  while  in  his  service  and  of  their  subsequent  career  has 
been  included  in  this  chapter.— .£.  W.  L. 


THE  CONSULATE  AND   THE  EMPIRE       93 

Metternich,  but  had  not  paid  much  attention  to  him,  being 
occupied  at  the  moment,  and  he  could  not  tell  what  had 
become  of  him.  Bonaparte  answered:  "I  am  willing  to 
believe  you.  But  if  a  person  I  have  myself  sent  to  Met- 
ternich is  arrested,  you  will  be  arrested  too." 

The  Emperor  told  us  that  when  he  was  First  Consul 
he  woke  one  night  strangely  disturbed.  He  found  lying 
on  his  table  a  report  from  the  police,  saying  that  a  man 
named  Traisnel  who  was  a  surgeon,  had  just  reached 
Paris,  and  had  been  arrested  as  a  Chouan.  The  First 
Consul  knew  the  man,  and  gave  orders  to  have  him  tried 
at  once.  He  was  condemned  to  death,  but  was  reprieved 
in  hopes  that  by  a  promise  of  pardon  he  might  be  induced 
to  speak.  The  fear  of  death  opened  his  mouth.  He 
confessed  that  Georges  Cadoudal  and  Pichegru  were  in 
Paris.  The  police  went  to  the  lodging  of  Pichegru 's 
brother,  and  arrested  him.  He  cried  at  once:  "What 
for.-*  I  have  done  nothing!  It  cannot  be  thought  a  crime 
to  have  given  hospitality  to  my  brother.?"  All  the  other 
Chouans  in  Paris  were  arrested,  one  after  another. 
Monsieur  d'Ozier  hanged  himself  in  prison.  They  cut 
him  down.  Real  was  sent  for,  and  d'Ozier's  first  words 
as  he  began  to  revive  (Real  heard  them)  were:  "You 
rascal  of  a  Moreau!  You  made  us  come  to  Paris  by  say- 
ing that  you  had  a  party,  and  that  all  was  ready!  And 
you  have  nobody!  You  have  been  the  ruin  of  us  all,  and 
perhaps  also  of  one  of  our  princes!"  ^  After  that,  sus- 
picion turned  on  Moreau;  but  first,  for  the  sake  of  public 
opinion,  it  was  necessary  to  arrest  Pichegru.  He  was 
betrayed  by  one  of  his  friends  for  one  hundred  thousand 
crowns.  The  police  got  into  his  bedchamber,  and  over- 
turned a  small  table  on  which  pistols  were  lying,  ready  to 
his  hand.  Georges,  too,  was  betrayed,  I  think  by  a  liter- 
ary man.     "It  was  infamous  on  the  part  of  the  man  who 

'  The  Comte  d'Artois,  who  was  off  the  coast  of  Brittany  waiting  for  the 
success  of  the  conspiracy.— £.  W.  L. 


94      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

betrayed  Pichegru,  for  he  was  his  friend,"  said  His 
Majesty.  Moreau  was  arrested.  As  soon  as  they  took 
him  to  the  Temple  he  asked  to  read  the  charge  against 
him,  and  when  he  saw  that  he  was  suspected  of  intelU- 
gence  with  Georges  and  Pichegru,  he  became  faint.  His 
wife  came  to  see  Josephine,  half  upbraiding,  half  coaxing 
her.  Josephine  told  her  that  pardon  could  be  hoped  for 
only  if  her  husband  would  make  a  sincere  confession. 
"Had  he  written  to  me,"  said  Napoleon,  "I  would  have 
stopped  proceedings  against  him.  I  have  been  blamed 
for  not  having  had  him  brought  before  a  military  commis- 
sion. He  was  tried  in  a  civil  court  for  criminal  con- 
spiracy." 

"Fouché  says  that  he  means  to  write  his  memoirs,  but 
he  will  never  do  it.  He  can,  by  dint  of  careful  correc- 
tions, turn  out  a  letter  hke  the  one  he  addressed  to  Wel- 
lington, but  he  could  not  write  a  historical  work.  He  has 
not  logic  enough  for  such  an  undertaking.  He  is  a  man 
fit  only  for  base  intrigues.  He  often  told  me  that  small 
means  were  not  to  be  disdained.  He  undertook  the 
defence  of  Murat,  in  1 8 14,  even  after  he  had  declared 
war  against  France,  but  in  return  he  made  Murat  give 
three  thousand  francs  a  month  to  Montrond,  and  to  many 
others,  which  cost  the  King  of  Naples  three  hundred 
thousand  francs  in  one  year.  During  the  elections  he  sent 
his  agents  into  the  departments  to  collect  votes.  After 
having  committed  all  sorts  of  horrors  during  the  Revolu- 
tion, he  tried  to  make  his  deeds  forgotten  by  doing  ser- 
vices for  various  parties. 

"He  tormented  me  constantly  to  make  him  a  duke,  and 
when  he  became  Duke  of  Otranto  he  wanted  to  be  a 
prince,  because  Talleyrand  was  one.  It  was  that  he 
might  succeed  in  this,  that  he  entered,  through  Ouvrard,' 
and  without  my  knowledge,  into  secret  negotiations  with 

'  Ouvrard,  the  financier.  See  Nolté's  "Fifty  Years  in  Both  Hemispheres." 


THE  CONSULATE  AND   THE  EMPIRE       95 

England.  He  wanted  to  say  to  me  some  fine  morning: 
'You  wished  for  an  understanding  with  the  Enghsh  gov- 
ernment. I  have  brought  it  about  without  saying  any- 
thing to  you.'  " 

"Fouché  gave  out  that  he  was  constantly  in  opposition 
to  me  in  the  Cabinet;  whereas,  in  reality,  of  all  my 
ministers  he  was  the  one  who  the  least  often  opposed  me. 
He  rarely  spoke  at  the  Council  board.  He  is  a  man  of 
very  little  talent,  and  utterly  without  moral  sense;  good 
only  to  carry  on  small  intrigues.'  He  has  a  large  for- 
tune, and  the  best  thing  that  could  now  happen  to  him 
would  be  never  to  be  spoken  of  again.     Louis  XVHI.  did 

a  wise  thing  when  he  got  rid  of  him He  took  him 

in  the  first  instance  for  the  sake  of  policy,  and  because 
he  might  be  useful  to  him,  but  he  ought  afterwards  to 
have  had  him  hanged.  That  is  the  way  in  politics! 
Governments  keep  their  promises  only  when  they  are 
forced  to  do  so,  or  when  it  will  be  to  their  advantage." 

"I  had  not  read  in  the  'Moniteur'  all  the  things  Fouché 
had  done,  when  I  took  him  for  my  minister.  In  1815  I 
wanted  to  give  a  guarantee  to  the  Jacobins.  Bassano, 
Caulaincourt,  and  Davout  eulogized  him,  and  persuaded 
me  to  take  him.  Besides,  there  was  not  much  choice, 
and  events  were  going  on  so  rapidly.  I  made  a  great 
mistake.  I  am  not  Louis  XVHL,  but  I  felt  great  repug- 
nance at  having  much  to  do  with  such  a  man.  The  King 
ought  to  have  had  him  hanged.  Talleyrand  is  another 
bad  man,  but  he  is  quite  different  from  Fouché.  He  long 
wanted  to  be  my  Finance  Minister.     He  knew  all  about 

•  If  we  are  surprised  that  Napoleon,  knowing  perfectly  tfie  character  of 
such  men  as  Fouché  and  Talleyrand,  took  them  into  his  Cabinet  and  sought 
their  advice,  we  must  remember  what  he  said  in  179g  when  he  accepted  their 
services:  "Fouché,  and  Fouché  alone,  is  able  to  conduct  the  ministry  of  police. 
We  cannot  create  men,  we  must  take  such  as  we  find."  And  of  Talleyrand: 
"He  is  the  ablest  minister  for  foreign  affairs  in  our  choice.  It  shall  be  my 
care  that  he  exerts  his  abilities." — E.  W.  L. 


96      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  //ELENA 

stock-jobbing,  but  he  never  would  have  done  at  the  head 
of  that  department;  he  is  too  lazy.  That  position  needed 
a  man  with  plenty  of  work  in  him,  like  MolUen." 

"I  did  wrong  to  keep  Fouché.  After  I  saw  that  he 
was  not  dealing  honestly  with  me,  I  ought  to  have  dis- 
missed him  at  once.  I  did  say  to  him  on  one  occasion, 
'You  may  as  well  send  home  your  baggage.'  I  ought  to 
have  given  his  place  to  Real,'  who  was  devoted  to  me." 

The  Emperor  said  that  Talleyrand  never  betrayed  him 
like  Fouché;  in  1 8 14  he  was  not  a  cabinet  minister. 
Talleyrand  was  a  very  different  man  from  the  Due 
d'Otrante,  who  was  a  Figaro  and  a  rascal.  The  Prince  of 
Benevento  had  the  confidence  of  his  master;  Fouché 
never  had.  In  18 15  Fouché  got  up  an  intrigue  with 
Metternich. 

"That  was  why  I  sent  Fleury  to  the  Congress  of 
Vienna  instead.  I  ought  to  have  had  the  Due  d'Otrante 
shot,  but  Lafitte  prevented  me.  Talleyrand  will  maintain 
himself  in  power.  He  is  a  man  of  the  Revolution,  a  mar- 
ried priest,  husband  of  a  disreputable  woman,  who  was 
Delessert's  mistress,  and  who  used  to  appear  nude  at  his 
supper  parties.  But  he  comes  of  a  great  family,  and 
that  will  cover  anything.  That  is  the  advantage  of  being 
born  one  of  the  noblesse.  A  woman  who  had  played  a 
quarter  of  the  pranks  Madame  de  Montmorency  has 
played,  would  have  been  deemed  too  disreputable  to  be 
received  in  good  society,  but  Madame  de  Montmorency  is 
a  grande  dame.  So  the  world  goes.  Fouché,  by  rights, 
ought  to  have  come  to  a  bad  end.  It  is  true  that  his  end 
has  not  yet  come."  '" 

"Ah!  financiers  and  bankers  are  sometimes  very  use- 
ful. They  manage  to  know  everything.  Lafitte  came  to 
see  me  one  day,  and  told  me  that  a  man  had  just  come 

•  Real  was  Chief  of  Police  under  the  minister.  He  died  in  the  United 
States  in  exile  while  Napoleon  was  at  St.  Helena.— £.  W.  L. 

*  Fouché  died  in  exile  in  1820,  some  months  before  Napoleon. 


THE  CONSULATE  AND   THE  EMPIRE       97 

from  Vienna,  bringing  a  letter  of  credit  on  Fouché.     He 
thought  it  a  suspicious  circumstance."  ' 

"Talleyrand  got  money  out  of  everything,  and  he  really 
has  great  talent  for  stock-jobbing.  I  am  certain  that  he 
sold  documents  to  the  English,  not  important  ones,  but 
secondary  letters  which  he  sent  to  Pitt.  It  had  been  inti- 
mated to  him  that  for  each  of  these  he  would  be  paid  one 
thousand  louis.  The  Prince  of  Benevento  [Talleyrand]  is 
not  a  man  of  transcendent  merit.  He  hates  work;  but 
he  knows  how  to  hold  his  tongue.  He  rarely  gives  advice, 
but  can  make  others  talk.  If  you  overwhelm  a  man  with 
your  own  views,  or  your  counsel,  you  must  have  a  certain 
regard  for  him  ;  now  Talleyrand  never  cared  for  anything 
but  his  own  personal  interests.  The  thing  that  might  be 
of  the  greatest  service  to  the  State  he  put  aside,  if  it 
would  not  contribute  to  his  advantage.  One  might  say  of 
him  that  he  was  utterly  without  moral  consciousness.  I 
never  knew  any  one  so  entirely  indifferent  to  right  and 
wrong.  He  is  able  to  let  none  of  his  thoughts  appear  in 
his  face;  and  he  knows  when  to  hold  his  tongue.  The 
Prince  of  Benevento  has  another  advantage;  he  can  sit 
up  and  keep  awake  till  three  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
which  is  a  great  advantage  to  a  man  who  has  much  to  do 
with  public  affairs.  He  can,  at  that  hour,  give  an  audi- 
ence, and  talk  as  usual  to  people,  who  would  have  no  idea 
he  had  not  been  in  his  bed  all  night.  Talleyrand  drew 
up  the  report  concerning  the  situation  of  the  Republic  in 
the  year  VIII.  [1799].  That  report  was  well  done,  and 
will  be  useful  to  any  one  engaged  in  writing  history.  In 
short,  I  think  that  Talleyrand  is  the  best  man  living  to 
hold  the  post  of  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  under  the 
French  king.  He  sees  much  company,  and  can  make 
people  talk.  He  is  a  proud  man,  Hke  all  the  Perigords. 
All  he  wanted  was  a  clever  woman  for  a  wife,  not  such  a 

'  It  related  to  an  intrigue  going  on  at  Basle  during  the  hundred  days 
between  Napoleon's  escape  from  Elba  and  his  abdication  alter  Waterloo. 


98      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  HELENA 

one   as    he    married I    never   consented   to   his 

marriage,  and  what  is  more,  I  did  not  know  all  that  Lebrun 
told  me  afterwards  about  her  antecedents.  I  had 
thought  of  making  him  a  cardinal,  which  would  have 
suited  him  admirably.  If  he  persisted  in  wishing  for  a 
wife,  he  might  at  least  have  chosen  an  honest  woman. 
But  he  is  far  above  the  common  run  of  men.  He  knows 
exactly  how  and  when  to  change  his  party,  and  in  short, 
I  think  Louis  XVIIL  has  done  wrong  to  dismiss  him.^ 
He  understood  the  Revolution  perfectly;  and  it  must 
have  been  a  great  advantage  to  the  King  to  have  at  hand 
a  Grand  Chamberlain  who  could  answer  all  his  questions 
on  this  subject.  Richelieu,^  who  does  not  know  France, 
could  give  him  no  information.  Talleyrand  must  have 
perceived  that  public  opinion  was  so  strong  against  him 
that  the  only  way  to  save  himself  was  to  join  the  party  of 
the  ultras.  I  repeat  that  the  King  has  made  a  blunder. 
....  Since  he  has  thrown  Talleyrand  out  of  office  he 
ought  to  send  him  away  from  Paris." 

"What  makes  me  think  that  there  can  be  no  God  who 
metes  out  punishment,  is  that  good  people  are  so  often 
unhappy  and  rascals  prosperous.  You  will  see  that 
Talleyrand  will  die  in  his  bed."  ^ 

Private  Secretaries — Bourrienne,   Méneval, 
Fain. 

"One  day  I  found  Bourrienne  weeping  hot  tears  in  my 
cabinet.     I  pressed  him  with  questions.     He  at  last  owned 

'  Spoken  in  March,  1817. 

'  The  Due  de  Richelieu,  Louis  XVIII. 's  prime  minister. 

*  Deep  and  true  was  the  grief  felt  for  the  loss  of  Talleyrand  in  his  own 
household;  many  and  bitter  have  been  the  things  said  of  his  character  and  his 
career.  He  himself  summed  up  his  life  in  some  words  written  shortly  before 
his  death,  which  read  like  another  verse  in  the  Book  of  Ecclesiastes:  "Eighty- 
three  years  have  rolled  away!  How  many  cares,  how  many  an.\ieties!  How 
many  hatreds  have  I  inspired,  how  many  exasperating  complications  have  1 
known!  And  all  this  with  no  other  result  than  great  moral  and  physical  ex- 
haustion, and  a  deep  feeling  of  discouragement  as  to  what  may  happen  in  the 
future— disgust,  too,  as  I  think  over  the  pd^sV— France  in  the  Nineteenth 
Century, 


THE  CONSULATE  AND   THE  EMPIRE       99 

that  he  had  made  a  very  heavy  loss — he  had  lost  money 
by  the  failure  of  a  great  business  enterprise.  He  had 
entered  into  partnership  with  some  contractors,  and  he 
begged  me  to  lend  him  a  million  francs.  At  once  I 
gave  him  his  dismissal  instead.  If  it  had  to  be  done  over 
again  I  would  do  it  again.  He  is  a  man  of  talent,  he 
speaks  German  well,  but  he  loves  intrigue,  and  is  a  thief. 
So  much  of  a  thief  that  I  am  not  sure  he  would  not  steal 
a  casket  of  diamonds  lying  on  a  chimney  piece.  Twenty 
millions  would  not  satisfy  him  and  keep  him  from  steal- 
ing. Whenever  I  dictated  orders  to  him  which  spoke  of 
millions  his  face  lighted  up.  He  enjoyed  it.  Our  parting 
was  very  unlucky  for  me,  for  he  was  useful.  He  wrote 
a  beautiful  hand.  He  was  active  and  indefatigable;  was 
a  patriot  and  did  not  like  the  Bourbons;  but  he  was  too 
dishonest!  He  had  begun  to  think  himself  of  too  much 
importance.     He   gave   soirées  and   acted   like  a   prime 

minister Perhaps  I    ought  to   have    given    him 

the  Cross  he  wished  for  so  much;  he  might  have  had 
himself  proposed  by  one  of  the  ministers,  and  then  it 
would  have  been  easy  for  me  to  let  him  receive  it  without 
question,  like  so  many  others. 

"Meneval  was  a  mere  clerk  who  hardly  knew  how  to 
spell. 

"Fain'  was  beginning  to  act  as  if  he  felt  himself  of 
importance;  but  he  had  been  trained  in  official  bureaux ^ 

'  Baron  Fain  accompanied  the  Emperor  to  Elba,  but  strongly  advised  his 
friend  Gourgaud  not  to  share  Napoleon's  exile  to  St.  Helena.— £.  W.  L. 


CHAPTER  V. 

BONAPARTE  CONSUL. 

1 799-1804. 

The  Legion  of  Honor. —  The  Concordat, — The 
Conspiracy  of  Pichegru,  Moreau,  and  Georges 
Cadoudal. — Trial  and  Execution  of  the  Dug 
d'Enghien. — Saint  Domingo. 


The  Legion  of  Honor. 

"The  Legion  of  Honor  was  a  good  institution.  The 
officers  made  an  outcry  when  they  saw  the  soldiers  obtain 
the  same  distinction  as  themselves,  but  their  discontent 
made  no  impression  upon  me.  The  soldiers,  wherever 
I  commanded,  were  accustomed  to  be  victorious;  besides 
that,  one  reason  they  loved  me  was  that  they  knew  that  I 
protected  them  from  the  injustice  of  their  colonels,  who 
were  always  trying  to  bring  forward  young  men  whom 
they  favored,  in  place  of  tried  old  soldiers.  It  is  all  very 
well  to  say  that  a  young  man  has  more  impetuosity  than 
a  veteran,  but  an  old  soldier  who  has  lived  through  many 
battles  has  more  steadiness  and  experience  than  a  young 
one."» 

The  Concordat. 

"At  the  time  of  the  Concordat  Macdonald,  Delmas, 
and  others  conspired  against  me,  and  said  I  was  re-estab- 
lishing the  power  of  the  priests.  It  was  very  surprising 
how  much  they  detested  them.     The  Concordat  was  the 

'  The  institution  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  took  place  in  the  summer  of  i8oj. 
it  was  a  brilliant  stroke  of  policy,  but  it  was  not  popular  with  men  of  the  Revo- 
lution. It  has  survived  both  them  and  their  opinions,  for  the  burning  of  the 
Palace  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  by  the  Communards  in  1871  was  not  done  as  a 
protest  against  the  Institution,  but  in  a  wanton  spirit  of  destruction. — E.  W.L. 

100 


BONAPARTE  CONSUL  loi 

thing  I  found  it  hardest  to  carry  out  successfully.  Madame 
de  Staël  assembled  the  principal  generals  at  her  house, 
and  told  them  that  they  had  only  twenty-four  hours 
in  which  to  decide  how  to  do  something  to  prevent  me 
from  carrying  out  my  scheme  of  re-establishing  the  power 
of  the  clergy.  That  if  they  did  nothing  to  preveot  me  I 
should  soon  have  forty  thousand  priests  under  my  orders; 
that  I  should  make  no  account  of  the  generals,  and  should 
get  rid  of  them;  that  I  must  be  made  to  change  my  plans; 
and  that  some  of  them  must  ask  an  audience  with  me  to 
set  forth  their  views  and  wishes." 

"I  made  the  Concordat'  to  consolidate  things  by  a 
new  agreement,  and  to  rally  round  me  the  true  Catholics. 
"I  wanted  to  have  the  Pope  with  me,  and  then  I  should 
have  been  master  of  things  ecclesiastical  in  France,  as 
much  as  if  I  had  been  Head  of  the  Church.  The  Pope 
would  have  done  everything  I  asked  of  him,  and  I  should 
have  found  no  difficulty  with  the  sincerely  religious  party 
in  France.  It  would  have  been  supposed  that  the  Pope 
did  everything,  and  it  was  for  him  I  spent  millions  in 
magnificently  fitting  up  the  Archiépiscopal  Palace  in  Paris. 
My  design  was  that  after  my  death  all  Italy  should  be 
united  into  one  kingdom,  of  which  my  second  son  should 

"  As  soon  as  Napoleon  was  in  power  he  ordered  the  churches  to  be  opened 
and  permitted  the  offices  of  religion  to  be  resumed.  On  September  i8,  1802, 
peace  was  signed  between  the  Pope  and  the  French  Government.  The  Con- 
cordat, which  was  its  basis,  was  the  work  of  Napoleon  himself.  It  was  a  com- 
promise not  wholly  satisfactory  to  the  ultramontane  party,  but  its  conditions 
had  been  accepted  by  the  Pope  and  were  the  best  they  were  likely  to  obtain. 
In  1816  Louis  XVIll.  abrogated  this  Concordat  and  made  new  terms  with  the 
Vatican.  But  the  Napoleonic  Concordat  was  afterwards  restored,  and  in  a 
great  measure  governs  the  ecclesiastical  relations  of  France  with  Rome  to  the 
present  day.    Its  terms  were  chiefly  these  : 

I.  Tfie  Catholic  religion  is  recognized  as  the  national  faith. 

II.  France  shall  be  divided  into  new  dioceses. 

III.  The  Government  shall  nominate  bishops.  The  Pope  shall  confirm 
them. 

IV.  All  bishops  shall  be  required  to  swear  allegiance  to  the  Government, 
and  prayers  shall  be  introduced  into  their  ritual  for  the  Consuls. 

v.  The  bishops,  whom  the  Government  shall  approve,  shall  appoint  the 
parish  priests. 

VI.  The  Government  shall  make  proper  provision  for  the  prelates  and 
clergy.— £.  W.  L. 


I02     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  //ELENA 

be  the  sovereign.  It  is  absurd  for  the  Pope  to  exercise 
pohtical  power  over  the  subjects  of  another  ruler.  The 
Popes  have  done  so  very  often.  They  have  even  under- 
taken to  give  away  kingdoms. 

"In  China  the  sovereign  is  worshipped  as  a  god.  That 
I  think  is  how  it  ought  to  be." 

The  Conspiracy  of  Pichegru,  Moreau,  and 
Georges  Cadoudal. 

"What  I  can  never  forgive  Pichegru'  is  his  conduct  in 
1797,  at  the  commencement  of  his  intrigues  with  the 
enemy,  when  he  sold  the  lives  of  his  soldiers,  and  so 
conducted  his  manoeuvres  that  he  knew  his  troops  must 
be  defeated.  When  he  reached  Mayence  he  told  Kleber 
that  he  had  brought  few  men  with  him  because  he  had 
left  behind  a  large  force  to  protect  the  Upper  Rhine. 
'Faugh!'  replied  Kleber,  'you  should  only  have  left  plenty 
of  field  hospitals. 

"Madame  Moreau  caused  the  ruin  of  her  husband,  a 
kind-hearted  man,  but  weak.  She  carried  her  imperti- 
nence so  far  when  I  was  First  Consul  as  to  attempt 
to  take  precedence  of  Madame  Bonaparte  when  Talley- 
rand was  giving  her  his  hand  at  a  fête  he  was  making  for 
me.  He  gave  Madame  Moreau  a  slight  kick  or  two,  to 
make  her  step  back,  but  as  she  paid  no  attention  to  this, 

*  a  brief  note  may  here  be  desirable  to  sketch  the  career  of  General 
Pichegru.  He  was  twenty-eight  years  old  when  the  Revolution  broke  out. 
His  parents  were  of  the  peasant  class  ;  he  had  been  educated  by  the  monks 
who  called  themselves  Minimes,  and  subsequently  (probably  on  their  recom- 
mendation) he  was  admitted  to  the  Military  School  at  Brienne,  where  his  pro- 
ficiency in  mathematics  caused  him  to  be  employed  as  a  pupil-teacher. 
Napoleon  Bonaparte  was  one  of  his  scholars.  He  enlisted  as  a  private  after 
leaving  Brienne.  He  went  with  his  regiment  to  the  war  in  America  and  rose 
rapidly  to  be  a  non-commissioned  officer.  Soon  after  the  Revolution  broke  out 
he  received  a  commission.  In  1792  he  was  a  general  ;  in  1793  he  was  one  of  the 
most  brilliant  military  chiefs  in  the  Army  of  the  Republic,  publicly  commended 
by  Robespierre,  and  by  Collot  d'  Herbois.  His  field  of  operations  was  in  Hol- 
land. He  defeated  the  English  under  the  Duke  of  York,  and  the  French 
^»?i^r(?  army  under  Condé.  Moreau  and  Jourdan  were  generals  of  distinction 
ander  him.  Butin  1795  he  began  to  listen  to  arguments  and  overtures  from 
the  head  of  the  Army  of  Condé.  He  was  in  Paris  on  the  13th  Fructidor  (Sep- 
tember 4, 1797),  and  on  bis  return  to  his  army  he  entered  into  close  relations 


BONAPARTE  CONSUL  103 

he  was  forced  to  have  her  put  aside  by  some  of  those 
young  men  who,  with  ribbons  on  their  arms,  were  acting 
in  the  fête  as  ushers.  You  cannot  conceive  of  that 
woman's  impertinence.  One  day  she  came  to  call  on 
Josephine,  and  as  she  could  not  be  received  at  once,  she 
went  away,  slamming  the  doors  behind  her  as  she  departed, 
and  calling  loudly  that  she  was  not  a  person  to  be  kept 
waiting!  ....  I  had  done  a  great  deal  for  Moreau;  I 
had  placed  him  at  the  head  of  a  magnificent  army,  while 
I  was  only  in  command  of  a  few  conscripts;  I  had  made 
him  a  present  of  a  pair  of  superb  pistols;  in  short,  I  had 
treated  him  generously  in  every  way.  I  knew  that  he  had 
put  four  millions  of  francs  into  his  pocket,  but  I  never 
said  anything  about  it.  He  told  me  himself  that  he  did 
not  feel  capable  of  being  a  commander-in-chief,  and  that 
he  would  rather  be  second  in  command  than  first.  He 
often  came  to  see  me  about  this,  and  ended  by  thinking  I 
was  right.     We  used  often  to  dine  together. 

"Twice  I  forgave  him  his  rash  talk,  and  that  of 
Madame  Moreau,  At  last,  as  the  thing  went  on,  I  said 
to  Lanjuinais  that  if  Moreau  did  not  change  the  attitude 
he  was  taking  toward  me,  I  should  have  to  change  mine 
toward  him;  and  that  the  law  must  be  the  same  for  both 
of  us.  'Do  not  you  think  so,  Lanjuinais?'  'Yes,  First 
Consul;  there  is  nothing  more  to  be  said  about  it.'     At 

with  the  enemy.  His  correspondence  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Directory. 
Some  say  his  papers  were  captured  in  Venice,  where  government  officials 
arrested  a  French  émigré  nobleman,  living  there,  as  he  supposed,  in  safety. 
The  Doge  sent  the  papers  as  a  peace  offering  to  Genera!  Bonaparte,  who  was 
threatening  his  city.  Fart  of  the  correspondence  had,  however,  fallen  into  the 
hands  ot  Moreau,  who,  partly  from  sympathy  with  the  new  views  of  his  old 
general,  and  partly  from  personal  consideration  for  him,  withheld  them  for 
some  months  from  the  Directory.  But  suspicion  had  already  invaded  the 
minds  of  the  Directors,  and  Pichegru  with  other  Royalists  was  arrested  and 
sent  to  the  malarious  swamps  of  Cayenne.  Thence  Pichegru  and  seven  com- 
panions escaped  in  a  boat  to  the  capita!  of  the  Dutch  settlement  of  Surinam. 
Pichegru  soon  found  his  way  to  London,  where  he  no  longer  made  any  secret 
of  his  Bourbon  sympathies.  He  was  consulted  by  the  Princes  and  by  the 
British  Government.  At  last,  in  the  summer  of  1804,  he  was  landed  from  a 
British  ship  of  war  on  the  coast  of  France.  The  ship  was  commanded  by 
Captain  Wright,  an  English  naval  officer  who  had  distinguished  himself  at 
Acre  under  Sir  Sidney  Smith.  We  may  learn  Pichegru's subsequent  history 
from  Napoleon's  talk  with  Gourgaud.— £.  W.  L. 


I04     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

last  his  actions  and  his  speeches  in  the  hearing  of  other 
men  became  such  that  I  would  no  longer  keep  up  any 
intercourse  with  him.  I  forbade  Josephine,  who  was 
afraid  of  his  wife  and  his  mother-in-law,  to  receive 
them;  and  I  met  them  myself  only  in  large  public 
gatherings.  Moreau  had  placed  himself  in  open  hostility 
to  me.  I  let  him  alone  to  ruin  himself;  I  drew  out  of  the 
affair,  thinking,  'Moreau  will  break  his  head  against  the 
walls  of  the  Tuileries.'  He  found  fault  with  everything; 
above  all  with  my  Guard;  and  that  made  quarrels  between 
him  and  Bessières. 

"I  let  things  come  to  a  head  until  Lajolais,  who  had 
heard  him  assert  in  his  ill-humor  that  nothing  could  be 
easier  than  to  overthrow  me  and  take  possession  of  my 
place  and  power,  and  say  other  things  of  the  same  kind, 
communicated  his  sentiments  to  Pichegru  and  Georges. 
One  would  have  thought  Lajolais  was  running  the  con- 
spiracy. Pichegru  and  Georges  came  to  Paris;  they  had 
an  interview  with  Moreau  at  dusk  in  the  Place  de  la  Made- 
leine. Moreau  came  by  the  Rue  Royale,  and  Pichegru 
met  him  from  the  boulevard.  He  embraced  Moreau  and 
told  him  he  had  come  to  the  capital  to  overthrow  the  First 
Consul.  Georges  remained  apart.  Pichegru  brought  him 
forward,  and  introduced  him  to  Moreau,  who  not  having 
expected  that  the  things  he  had  said  before  Lajolais,  would 
be  taken  so  seriously,  was  much  embarrassed.  Georges 
asked  him  on  what  he  might  depend.  Moreau  replied: 
'Let  us  first  overthrow  Bonaparte;  then  everybody  will 
be  for  me.  I  shall  be  named  First  Consul,  with  Pichegru 
Second  Consul,  and  you  will  be  all  right.'  Georges  ex- 
claimed that  he  had  expected  more  than  that.  He  wanted 
to  be  Third  Consul.  At  these  words  Moreau  declared  that 
if  it  were  known  that  he,  Moreau,  held  any  communica- 
tion with  a  Chouan,  all  the  army  would  be  against  him, 
and  the  whole  thing  would  fail.  The  first  thing  to  be 
done  was  to  kill  the  First  Consul,  and  then  everybody 


'^^A?'^^ 


EMPRESS  MARIE  LOUISE 


BONAPARTE  CONSUL  105 

would  declare  for  Moreau.  Georges  asked  him  to  name 
three  men  of  mark  among  those  who  he  considered  would 
be  with  him.  To  this  Moreau  repHed:  'So  long  as  Bona- 
parte is  living,  I  cannot  arrange  matters  for  anybody,  but 
when  Bonaparte  is  dead,  I  shall  have  all  France  and  the 
army  with  me.'  Then  ensued  mutual  reproaches.  'You 
made  us  come  here,  and  now  you  can  do  nothing!' 
Georges  even  cried,  'If  I  must  choose  between  two  blues, 
I  prefer  Bonaparte  to  you!'     Then  they  separated, 

"However,  Moreau  said  to  Pichegru  that  he  should 
be  glad  to  see  him  at  his  own  house,  and  even  told  him 
how  he  might  reach  him  secretly.  But  as  to  Georges,  he 
said  he  wished  never  to  see  him  again.  Moreau  received 
Pichegru  several  times  after  that  in  his  own  library.  He 
tried  to  collect  about  thirty  of  his  friends  who  were 
men  of  determination,  and  he  made  up  his  dispute  with 
Bernadotte,  with  whom  he  had  quarreled  about  twenty 
days  before.  I  was  told  all  this  by  Désirée,^  who  informed 
me  that  her  husband  could  not  sleep  at  night.  If  he 
slumbered  he  dreamed  and  talked  about  Moreau  and  con- 
spiracies. Moreau  had  been  to  their  house,  she  said, 
three  times  the  evening  before,  and  she  was  afraid  her 
husband  might  get  mixed  up  in  some  dangerous  affair. 
She  had  ordered  her  servants  not  to  admit  Moreau,  and 
had  come  at  once  to  give  me  warning.  I  could  not  have 
had  a  better  spy;  after  that  came  the  quarrel,  and  the 
capture  of  Hotier. 

"Real  wanted  me  to  imprison  Moreau  at  once.  I 
would  not  consent  to  this  before  knowing  if  Pichegru  and 
Georges  were  still  in  Paris.  I  took  a  notion  to  arrest 
Pichegru's  brother,  a  former  monk,  and  to  get  some  infor- 
mation out  of  him.  This  plan  succeeded.  He  had 
rooms  on  the  fourth  floor  of  a  house  on  the  Place  Ven- 

'  Désirée  Clary,  Bernadotte's  wife,  was  the  sister  of  the  wife  of  Joseph 
Bonaparte.  Early  in  Napoleon's  career  she  had  been  engaged  to  be  married 
to  him,  but  the  affair  was  broken  olf  when  they  were  on  the  eve  of  being 
married.— £.  W.  L. 


io6     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

dôme.  Amazed  at  his  arrest,  he  cried,  'I  have  done 
nothing!  Is  it  a  crime  to  entertain  one's  brother?'  Real 
questioned  him,  and  made  certain  that  Pichegru  was  in 
Paris,  and  that  a  great  conspiracy  was  being  formed.  He 
hastened  to  Malmaison,  showed  me  the  interrogations,  and 
laid  before  me  a  warrant  for  the  arrest  of  Moreau;  I 
signed  it.  Henri,  who  belonged  to  the  gendarmerie, 
made  the  arrest,  as  Moreau  was  returning  from  his  coun- 
try house  at  Grosbois. 

"Moreau  appeared  quite  unconcerned,  and  laughed 
frequently,  as  they  drove  into  Paris,  but  when  he  reached 
the  Temple,  and  learned  that  he  was  charged  with 
secret  correspondence  with  Georges  and  Pichegru,  in  a 
matter  which  concerned  the  integrity  of  the  Republic,  he 
sat  down  and  changed  color,  as  if  he  would  have  fainted. 
If  he  had  written  to  me  then,  all  would  have  been  forgot- 
ten. But  his  wife  came,  and  instead  of  throwing  herself 
at  my  feet,  and  telling  me  that  guilty  or  not  guilty,  she 
implored  me  to  set  her  husband  at  liberty,  she  made  loud 
protestations  of  his  innocence,  declared  that  his  arrest  was 
unjust,  and  that  if  he  were  tried  it  would  be  shown  that 
he  was  innocent.  In  short,  instead  of  appeasing  me,  she 
exasperated  me  beyond  control. 

"I  charged  Régnier  to  see  Moreau,  to  get  him  to 
own  his  relations  with  Pichegru,  and  to  express  his  regret 
to  me.  Instead  of  that,  Moreau  persisted  in  saying  that 
he  did  not  know  at  all  what  Régnier  wanted  of  him. 

"It  was  most  important  for  me  to  secure  the  arrest  of 
Georges  and  Pichegru.  The  police  were  on  the  track  of 
the  latter  when  his  best  friend,  who  had  once  been  his  aide- 
de-camp,  came  and  offered  to  deliver  him  up  for  three 
hundred  thousand  francs.  He  was  to  sup  at  his  house 
that  evemng  with  Rolland,  the  brother  of  a  captain  in  the 
navy.  I  promised  the  three  hundred  thousand  francs, 
giving  a  draft  No.  II.  on  Estève,  not  payable  until  after 
the  arrest.     During  supper  Pichegru  said:  'Now   don't 


BONAPARTE  CONSUL  107 

you  suppose  that  if  Macdonald  and  I  presented  ourselves 
on  the  parade  ground  with  all  our  plumes,  we  should 
carry  all  the  troops  with  us?'  The  Judas  answered: 
'Do  not  deceive  yourselves;  not  a  cat  would  budge.'  At 
midnight  the  traitor  gave  my  agents  a  key  to  the  chamber 
where  his  friend  was  to  sleep,  giving  them  at  the  same 
time  its  description.  Pichegru  had  beside  him  on  a  small 
table,  a  wax  candle  and  his  pistols.  Comminge  knocked 
over  the  table.  The  general  tried  to  recover  his  weapons, 
but  was  seized  by  seven  or  eight  picked  gendarmes,  who 
were  obliged  to  gag  him  and  to  take  him  naked  to  the 
Prefecture  of  Police.  Real  there  told  him  that  he  must 
see  that  all  resistance  was  useless,  and  that  it  would  only 
result  in  personal  ill-treatment,  an  indignity  to  such  a 
man.  At  length  he  decided  to  submit:  'True,'  he  said, 
'I  will  put  on  my  clothes.' 

"Georges  was  given  up  by  Leridan  for  one  hundred 
thousand  francs.  He  wanted  to  quit  the  Faubourg  Saint- 
Honoré,  where  he  found  out  that  they  were  searching  for 
him.  Leridan  warned  the  police  that  he  was  going  to 
drive  him  to  the  Faubourg  Saint-Jacques  in  a  cabriolet, 
of  which  he  gave  a  description.  The  agents  followed  the 
cabriolet,  and  Cadoudal,  finding  that  several  of  his  friends 
in  the  Faubourg  Saint-Jacques  had  been  arrested,  tried  to 
turn  back,  and  reach  Chaillot.  It  was  then  that  he  was 
taken." 

"I  consulted  others  concerning  the  trial  of  Moreau. 
Lebrun  and  Cambacérès  '  thought  he  had  better  be  tried 
by  a  military  commission,  composed  of  officers  from  the 
reserve.  I  did  not  think  so;  I  had  him  brought  before  a 
criminal  court,  and  had  afterwards  good  reason  to  repent 
of  my  decision.  One  of  the  judges,  Lecourbe,  under  the 
influence  of  party  feeling,  went  so  far  as  to  declare  that 
he  did  not  believe  Georges  to  be  guilty  of  conspiracy.     In 

'  The  other  consuls. 


loS     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  I/ELENA 

the  end,  by  one  sole  vote — that  of  Guillemin,  who  was  an 
imbecile — Moreau  was  pronounced  guilty.*  If  he  had 
been  acquitted,  I  was  advised  to  have  him  shot  on  the  spot 
by  my  own  gendarmes,  to  avert  a  revolution.  That  was 
what  I  might  have  brought  upon  myself  by  my  folly  in 
having  him  tried  by  civil  judges." 

Gourgaud  and  Bertrand  discuss  some  statements  in  the 
book  of  Warden.     Bertrand  says: 

"Pichegru  was  not  murdered.  Nor  do  I  think  he  was 
put  secretly  to  death,  in  order  that  so  great  a  general 
might  not  perish  on  the  scaffold.  No;  he  had  lost  his 
honor,  there  was  nothing  more  to  be  feared  from  him. 
His  treason  was  clear.  Why  should  he  have  been  mur- 
dered?" 

Napoleon  said:  "The  only  man  I  ever  condemned  to 
death  for  political  reasons  was  Georges.  I  pardoned 
Polignac.     I  am  sorry  I  did  so." 

"If  I  had  been  killed,  Moreau  would  have  been  named 
Consul  in  my  place,  but  Georges  said  that  blue  for  blue 
be  preferred  me  to  him.  I  saw  Georges  at  the  Tuileries 
at  the  time  of  the  pacification  of  La  Vendée.  I  tried  all 
means  to  bring  him  over  to  the  party  of  submission.  He 
was  a  fanatic,  and  I  softened  him  without  convincing  him. 
At  the  end  of  half  an  hour  I  was  where  I  had  been  at  the 
beginning.  He  wanted  to  keep  his  armed  bands  together. 
I  told  him  that  there  could  not  be  a  state  within  a  state, 
and  that  old  Châtillon  under  similar  circumstances  had 
wept,  but  yielded  the  point,  crying,  'The  real  question 

'  Moreau  was  sentenced  to  two  years'  imprisonment,  and  to  pay  the  costs 
of  the  suit.  The  sentence  of  imprisonment  was  subsequently  changed  to 
exile.  He  came  to  the  United  States,  where  he  purchased  a  handsome  estate 
near  Philadelphia.  In  July,  1813,  he  listened  to  entreaties  from  the  Emperor 
Alexander  and  his  allies  ;  returned  to  Europe  and  joined  the  allied  army  before 
Dresden.  During  the  battle,  while  sitting  on  horseback  conversing  with  the 
Emperor  Alexander,  and  watching  the  fortune  o*.  the  day,  a  cannon-ball  shat- 
tered his  legs,  and  he  died  in  less  than  a  month  after  his  return  to  Europe 
trom  America,— iE.  IV.  L. 


BONAPARTE  CONSUL  109 

is,  What  will  be  most  for  the  good  of  France,  and  be  most 
likely  to  re-establish  tranquillity?'  D'Autichamps  said 
almost  the  same  thing.  '  ' 

"Moreau  was  very  wrong  to  bear  arms  against  France 
in  1813.  He  was  a  brave  man.  I  had  great  pleasure  in 
talking  with  him  until,  under  the  influence  of  his  wife  and 
mother-in-law,  who  were  créoles,  he  ceased  to  visit  me; 
and  I  said  to  Talleyrand,  'He  will  not  respond  to  my 
offers  of  friendship,  he  will  knock  his  head  against  the 
walls  of  the  Tuileries.'  " 

"The  Chouans  in  their  depositions  said  that  Georges 
had  held  conferences  with  some  person  whom  he  treated 
with  the  greatest  respect,  and  to  whom  he  always  spoke 
uncovered.  The  police  thought  it  must  have  been  the 
Due  d'Enghien.     It  was  Pichegru." 

"Pichegru  was  a  man  of  honor.  Anger  and  enmci  must 
have  led  him  to  commit  suicide.  I  should  have  pardoned 
him.  He  did  very  wrong.  Look  at  Rivière,  and  at  the 
Polignacs!  I  pardoned  them.  They  are  now  great  noble- 
men. Fortune  has  favored  them  in  every  way.  Time 
brings  about  great  changes.  It  is  only  fools  who  commit 
suicide."  ^ 

Montholon  had  been  trying  to  find  the  date  of  Captain 
Wright's  death."  Napoleon  says:  "I  would  have  sworn 
it  was  during  the  trial  of  Moreau  and  Pichegru I 

•  Pichegru  was  found  dead  in  his  bed  with  a  black  silk  handkerchief  tight- 
ened by  a  tourniquet  round  his  throat.  So  far  as  the  public  knew,  there  were 
no  signs  of  a  struggle.  Gourgaud  did  not  believe  in  the  suicide  theory.  He 
thought  the  death  of  Pichegru  was  the  act  of  the  police,  who  judged  it  would 
create  scandal  and  embarrassment  to  bring  so  great  a  general  to  trial  and  the 
scaffold.  Savary  was  Minister  of  Police  at  this  time  and  Real  under  him.  Both 
were  unscrupulous  and  what  Napoleon  called  "/awwrj' "  —  men  who  lived  to 
act  for  themselves.— £■.  W.  L. 

'The  mysterious  death  of  Captain  Wright,  R.  N.,  when  a  prisoner  in  the 
Temple,  took  place  about  the  same  time  as  that  of  Pichegru,  and  e.xcited 
intense  indignation  in  England.  Wright's  ship  had  been  captured  by  a  supe- 
rior force  shortly  after  he  landed  Pichegru  at  Calais.  Then  Captain  Wright, 
though  a  prisoner  of  war,  was  held  to  be  a  member  of  the  conspiracy,    li  "le 


no     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

have  lost  my  memory.  How  careful  one  ought  to  be  of 
what  one  says!  Now,  people  in  England  are  going  to  cry 
out  that  I  had  Wright  murdered.  I  thought  that  he  had 
died  at  the  time  of  the  trial  of  the  other  conspirators 
because  he  dreaded  being  called  as  a  witness  against 
them.  I  suppose  those  fools,  the  pohce,  did  not  want  to 
bring  him  to  trial.  Ma  foi!  We  must  just  say  that  Las 
Cases  was  talking  nonsense.     Fool  that  he  was!" 

There  was  another  Captain  Wright,  commander  of  the  Griffin, 
which  was  one  of  the  English  fleet  that  escorted  the  "Northumber- 
land" to  St.  Helena. 

Trial  and  Execution  of  the  Due  d'Enghien. 

"Public  opinion  was  much  agitated  after  the  death  of 
the  Due  d'Enghien.  It  was  Talleyrand  who  in  a  cabinet 
meeting  made  me  feel  the  danger  of  having,  three  leagues 
from  our  frontier,  a  prince  who  was  head  of  a  political 
conspiracy  in  Paris.  Talleyrand  maintained  that  the 
Bourbon  princes  having  begun  the  attack  on  me  by  the 
Infernal  Machine,  I  had  a  right  to  carry  off  the  Due 
d'Enghien  and  to  have  him  tried." 

Yielding  to  these  arguments  of  Talleyrand,  the  First 
Consul  ordered  Ordener  to  cross  the  Rhine,  and  to  carry 
off  the  Prince.  Caulaincourt  at  the  same  time  was  sent 
to  Carlsruhe  to  present  the  Prince  of  Baden  with  a  note 
from  Talleyrand,  excusing  the  violation  of  his  frontier. 

Capitaine  Voigf  is  French  spelling  for  his  name  in  Gourgaud's  journal, 
Savary  (the  Due  de  Rovigo)  protested  he  had  nothing  to  do  with  his  death. 

At  this  time  Mr.  Nathaniel  Amory,  of  Boston,  afterwards  my  uncle  by 
marriage,  a  fair-haired,  fiorid  man,  was  in  Paris,  and  was  mistaken  by  the  police 
for  a  spy  and  an  Englishman.  He  was  suddenly  arrested,  taken  to  the  Temple, 
and  placed  in  the  next  cell  to  Captain  Wright.  They  managed  to  open  com- 
munication with  each  other.  Captain  Wright  did  not  complain  of  especial  ill- 
treatment,  only  of  loneliness,  weariness,  separation  from  his  family,  and  the 
loss  of  his  prospects  in  his  profession.  Persistent  offers  had  been  made  to  him 
if  he  would  enter  the  French  naval  service.  As  suddenly  and  mysteriously  as 
Mr.  Amory  hadibeen  arrested  came  his  release.  His  washerwoman, who  washed 
also  for  Washington  Irving,  asked  Mr.  Irving  what  could  have  become  of 
the  other  American  gentleman,  whose  name  she  did  not  know.  "N.  A."  on  his 
shirts  identified  him,  and  the  American  minister  procured  his  release. — 
E.  W.  L. 


BONAPARTE  CONSUL  îîl 

"I  never  committed  any  assassination.  The  Duc 
d'Enghien  was  tried  as  an  émigré  holding  intelligence 
with  the  enemies  of  France,  and  for  conspiracy. 

"Talleyrand  once  advised  me  to  take  advantage  of  an 
offer  that  was  made  me  by  certain  smugglers,  who  for  a 
million  of  francs  apiece,  proposed  to  rid  me  of  all  mem- 
bers of  the  house  of  Bourbon.  He  said  I  had  the  right 
to  fight  them  with  the  same  weapons  they  were  employing 
against  me. 

"I  ought  to  say  that  Louis  XVIII.  was  the  only  one 
of  his  family  who  never  countenanced  any  project  of 
assassinating  me.  But  all  the  others  tried  it.  Possibly 
for  the  sake  of  France  I  did  wrong  to  reject  the  propo- 
sition of  Talleyrand." 

"We  talked,"  says  Gourgaud,  "of  Caulaincourt,  the 
Due  de  Vicence,  and  of  the  Due  d'Enghien.  Were  I 
in  the  Due  de  Bourbon's  place,  I  would  certainly  be 
avenged  for  the  fate  of  my  son.  ....  But  it  was  not 
Caulaincourt  who  was  responsible  for  the  death  of  the 
Prince." 

"Sire,"  said  Gourgaud,  "men  reproach  Talleyrand 
with  having  influenced  what  they  call  a  crime  on  the  part 
of  Your  Majesty." 

"What!  the  d'Enghien  affair.-*  '     The  King  of  France 

*The  Due  d'Enghien  was  a  prince  of  the  blood,  heir  of  the  house  of 
Condé.  He  was  the  only  son  of  the  Due  de  Bourbon,  who  in  early  life  had 
eloped  with  his  own  bride,  a  princess  of  Orleans.  Their  marriage  was  not 
happy,  and  after  a  year  the  young  couple  were  estranged.  The  Due  d'Enghien 
emigrated  with  his  family  and  distinguished  himself  by  his  gallantry  and 
humanity  in  what  was  called  the  Army  of  Condé  —  that  is,  the  band  of  noble 
émigrés  raised  by  his  father.  He  had  never  been  on  French  soil  since  he 
quitted  it  with  his  family.  In  the  early  months  of  1804  he  was  living  at  Etten- 
heim,  a  castle  in  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Baden,  and  if  some  of  his  movements 
were  a  little  secret  and  mysterious  it  was  because  of  his  early  attachment  to 
the  Princess  Charlotte  de  Rohan,  then  living  within  a  few  leagues  of  his  castle 
on  the  frontier.  On  March  14,  1804,  by  orders  from  Caulaincourt,  Colonel 
Ordener,  with  a  force  of  French  soldiers  and  gendarmes,  appeared  at  Etten- 
heim,  arrested  the  Prince  and  carried  him  toStrasburg,  the  nearest  French 
stronghold.  He  is  sometimes  said  to  have  written  a  letter  to  the  First  Consul 
from  Strasburg,  which  was  never  delivered.  There  is  no  evidence  of  such  a 
letter,  but  at  Vincennes  he  did  write  a  few  words  on  the  margin  of  the  paper 
which  contained  his  sentence.    This  Talleyrand  or  Savary  took  care  should 


112     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST  HELENA 

will  never  blame  me  for  that.  What  is  one  man,  after  all? 
Ah!  the  King  will  never  quarrel  with  Talleyrand  about 
that!  Louis  XVIII.  is  a  man  of  sense,  and  a  sharp  poli- 
tician.    Talleyrand  will  die  in  his  bed." 

"Our  conversations  at  St.  Helena,  reported  in  Eng- 
lish papers  and  gathered  from  the  book  of  Las  Cases,  do 
Talleyrand  wrong.  The  English  newspapers  say  that 
Madame  Bertrand  said  she  was  sure  that  it  was  Talley- 
rand who  was  the  cause  of  the  death  of  the  Due  d'En- 
ghien.'" 

Saint  Domingo. 

"The  Saint  Domingo  business  was  a  great  piece  of  folly 
on  my  part.  If  I  had  succeeded,  all  it  would  have  done 
would  have  been  to  enrich  the  de  Noailles  and  the  La 
Rochefoucaulds.  I  think  that  Josephine,  a  créole  her- 
self, had  some  influence  in  inducing  me  to  undertake  the 
expedition;  but  a  wife  who  shares  her  husband's  bed  has 
always  a  certain  influence  over  him.  It  was  the  greatest 
error  that  in  all  my  government  I  ever  committed.  I 
ought  to  have  treated  with  the  black  leaders,  as  I  would 
have  done  with  the  authorities  in  a  province.     I  should 

not  be  seen  by  the  First  Consul,  who  was  in  a  state  of  great  excitement,  until 
after  the  execution,  which  immediately  followed  the  sentence.  The  young 
Prince  was  shot,  March  24,  1804,  at  6  o'clock  in  the  morning,  beside  the  moat 
at  Vincennes.  The  individual  most  responsible  for  the  indecent  haste  of  the 
trial  before  a  military  commission,  and  for  the  hasty  execution,  was  Savary, 
Due  de  Rovigo.  The  story  is  a  very  sad  one.  At  St.  Helena  any  mention  of 
it  always  seemed  to  give  pain  to  Napoleon,  though  he  deprecated  the  blame 
that  the  world  then  and  ever  since  has  cast  upon  him.  The  outspoken  Gour- 
gaud  could  not  refrain  from  saying  at  St.  Helena:  "I  never  can  forgive  the 
death  of  the  Due  d'  Enghien."  Strange  to  say,  the  fate  of  this  young  Prince 
made  little  impression  on  the  Bourbons.  When  they  were  restored,  Talley- 
rand and  Caulaincourt  entered  into  the  service  of  Louis  XVIll.  Savary  went 
into  exile.  Louis  XVIIL,  as  Napoleon  hints,  was  quite  capable  of  thinking 
that  the  removal  of  the  most  brilliant  scion  of  his  race  might  have  been  to  his 
advantage.— £■.  W.  L. 

'  "  Bertrand  says,"  adds  Gourgaud,  "  that  Murat  was  the  person  who  most 
strenuously  advised  the  immediate  execution  of  the  Due  d'  Enghien.  He 
argued  that  if  Napoleon  waited  till  the  next  day  he  would  pardon  him,  and  he 
urged  the  matter  until  he  succeeded  in  bringing  over  the  First  Consul  to 
his  own  views.  Josephine  did  very  differently.  Napoleon,  when  all  was 
over,   regretted    the    execution,   and  for    several    days   seemed  extremely 


BONAPARTE  CONSUL  I13 

have  nominated  negro  officers  in  regiments  composed  of 
soldiers  of  their  own  race,  and  have  let  Toussaint 
L'Ouverture  remain  as  Viceroy.  I  should  not  have  sent 
French  troops  there.  I  ought  to  have  left  the  blacks  to 
govern  themselves,  though  I  might  have  sent  them  a  few 
French  officials, — a  treasurer,  for  example, — and  I  ought 
to  have  let  these  men  know  that  it  would  please  me  if  they 
married  colored  wives.  Thus  the  negroes,  not  finding 
themselves  over-awed  by  whites,  would  have  acquired 
confidence  in  my  system.  The  colony  would  have  decreed 
the  suppression  of  slavery.  It  is  true  that  I  might  have 
lost  Martinique,  for  the  blacks  there  would  have  been 
free;  but  these  changes  would  have  been  accepted  without 
disorder.  I  had  a  plan  for  that,  a  plan  that  would  have 
attached  the  slaves  to  the  soil.  Vincent,  a  colonel  of 
engineers,  was  the  only  man  who  ever  spoke  sensibly  to 
me  about  this  expedition.  He  tried  to  dissuade  me  from 
it  by  showing  me  why  it  would  be  far  better  to  treat  with 
the  negroes  than  to  try  to  destroy  them.  All  that  he 
prophesied  took  place.  The  Bourbons  ought  now  to 
make  an  effort  to  recover  this  beautiful  colony,  which 
brought  into  France  one  hundred  and  eighty  millions  a 
year.  In  three  years  they  must  expect  to  lose  a  hundred 
thousand  men,  but  with  their  present  system  that  may  be 
to  their  advantage.  They  will  get  rid  of  all  the  officers 
and  soldiers  of  my  old  army,  and  may  get  repossession 
of  a  very  fine  colony.  What  may  stop  them  will  be  the 
money  question.  They  would  have  to  allow  one  hundred 
and  twenty  millions  for  the  start,  and  after  that  sixty 
millions  a  year." 

unhappy.  "  1  think,"  says  Gourgraud,  "  that  affair  will  always  do  much  harm  to 
the  Emperor,  especially  as  the  Prince  was  arrested  on  foreign  territory." 

Gourgaud  also  records  that  the  Emperor  was  much  annoyed  by  Las 
Cases  having  retained  his  journal,  which  had  been  seized  by  tlie  agents  of  Sir 
Hudson  Lowe  and  restored  to  him.  Montholon  thought  the  Emperor  regretted 
this  because  there  might  have  been  passages  in  it  relating  to  the  death  of  the 
Due  d'Enghien,  to  the  Bourbon  Princes,  the  Infernal  Machine,  the  conspiracy, 
and  other  matters,  in  which  names  would  have  been  mentioned  by  Las  Cases, 
which  the  Emperor  would  rather  have  had  suppressed.— ii.  W.  L. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

NAPOLEON  EMPEROR. 

AusTERLiTz,  December  2,  1805. —  Jena,  March  14, 
1806.  —  Eylau,  February  8,  1807. — Friedland, 
June  14,  1807. — The  Conference  at  Tilsit, 
July  7,  1807. 

Napoleon,  in  his  familiar  talks  with  Gourgaud,  makes  no 
allusion  to  the  period  of  his  life  in  which  he  was  made  Emperor. 
It  seems  as  if  he  always  thought  of  himself  as  bom  in  the  purple, 
and  Emperor  of  the  French  people,  rather  than  on  a  roll  of 
tapestry  representing  the  achievements  of  Achilles.  Nor  does  he 
allude  to  the  Peace  of  Amiens,  a  brief  truce  in  his  war  with  Eng- 
land, signed  March  27,  1802.  One  of  its  conditions  was  that 
England  should  restore  Malta  to  the  Knights  of  St.  John;  in 
which  case  it  would  have  fallen  an  easy  prey  to  France  in  case 
of  a  renewal  of  the  war.  Napoleon  was  willing  to  comply  with  all 
the  stipulations  which  bound  France  to  give  up  certain  colonies  in 
the  West  Indies,  but  insisted  that  the  English  government  must, 
on  their  part,  give  up  Malta.  Lord  Whitworth,  the  English 
ambassador,  after  a  stormy  scene  with  Napoleon  at  one  of  his 
levees,  left  Paris,  May  13,  1803,  and  war  was  declared  by  both 
countries  the  next  day.  Napoleon,  who  was  greatly  annoyed  by 
the  caricatures  and  insults  to  his  person,  published  in  the  English 
journals,  felt  bitter  resentment  not  only  against  the  English  gov- 
ernment, but  against  the  English  people,  and  showed  it  by  giving 
orders  for  the  arrest  of  all  travelling  Englishmen  or  English  resi- 
dents in  France  and  their  detention  as  prisoners  at  Verdun.  My 
grandfather  Captain  James  Wormeley  was  in  France  at  the 
time,  not  far  from  Calais.  He  escaped  by  hastening  to  the  coast 
and  paying  a  fisherman  a  hundred  pounds  to  put  him  across  the 
Channel. 

In  March,  1804,  occurred  the  trial  and  execution  of  the  Due 
d'Enghien;  in  April  the  arrest  of  Georges  Cadoudal,  Pichegru, 
and  Moreau;  in  May,  the  trial  of  these  and  other  conspirators. 
Immediately  afterwards  the  French  Chamber  (then  called  the 
Tribunat)  advised  that  the  First  Consul  should  be  invited  to  take 

114 


NAPOLEON  EMPEROR  "5 

upon  Wmself  the  style  and  title  of  Emperor  of  the  French  people. 
This  proposal  was  submitted  to  a  plébiscite.  Out  of  thirty  million 
people  (two-thirds  probably  being  non-voters,  women,  and  chil- 
dren) between  three  and  four  million  signed  Yes  to  the  docu- 
ment; only  between  three  and  four  thousand  voted  No! 

Anticipating  this  result,  and  well  knowing  the  sentiments  of 
the  Army,  where  all  men  desired  to  see  him  Emperor,  Napoleon, 
before  the  official  return  of  the  vote,  assumed  the  title  and  dignity 
of  an  Emperor.  He  made  seventeen  of  his  generals  Marshals  of 
France,  and  conferred  court  offices  and  civil  positions  upon 
others.  There  was  no  popular  enthusiasm  in  Paris,  or  in  the 
Departments,  upon  his  accession,  but  great  joy  in  the  Army,  espe- 
cially in  the  camp  at  Boulogne,  where  an  army  lay  awaiting  the 
opportunity  to  be  set  across  the  Channel,  to  conquer  and  to  devas- 
tate the  "right  little,  tight  little  island,"  whose  white  cliffs  on 
every  clear  day  could  be  seen  from  the  heights  above  their  camp- 
ing-ground. 

There  are  probably  not  many  people  living  who  feel,  as  I  do, 
a  sort  of  personal  connection  with  this  period  of  English  history. 
My  father  was  always  talking  of  those  days  and  singing  Thomas 
Dibdin's  song,  which  was  on  the  lips  of  every  Englishman  as  long 
as  invasion  was  threatened.  I  wish  I  could  remember  all  its  stir- 
ring verses.     I  recollect  but  one  of  them. 

The  Spanish  Armada  set  out  to  invade  her. 
And  swore,  if  it  ever  came  nigh  land 

It  wouldn't  do  less  than  tuck  up  Queen  Bess, 
And  take  its  full  swing  of  the  Island! 

O  !  the  right  little,  tight  little  Island  ! 
The  Dons  would  have  plundered  the  Island! 

But  snug  in  her  hive.  Queen  Bess  was  alive, 
And  buzz  was  the  word  of  the  Island  ! 

And  then  its  enthusiastic  conclusion. 

Frenchman,  devil,  or  Don,  we'll  let  them  come  on! 
And  show  them  some  sport  in  the  Island! 
At  the  risk  of  being  forced  to  apologize  for  my  garrulity,  I  add 
another  family  reminiscence. 

The  great  army  at  Boulogne  lay  waiting  until  Villeneuve,  with 
his  fleet  from  the  West  Indies,  should  arrive  and  prevent  any 
English  man-of-war  from  entering  what  was  called  the  Chops  of 
the  Channel.  But  Villeneuve  was  encountered  on  July  22,  1805, 
off  Brest,  by  Sir  Robert  Calder.  My  father  was  signal  lieutenant 
on  board   the  flag-ship.     The  action  was  a  very  brilliant  one- 


ii6    TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

Villeneuve  was  defeated.  He  was  driven  into  Brest,  some  of  his 
ships  were  taken,  and  his  squadron  dispersed.  His  plan  of  guard- 
ing the  entrance  to  the  British  Channel  was  defeated,  and  Napo- 
leon's rage  and  indignation  were  extreme.  But  the  British  Board 
of  Admiralty  were  disappointed.  They  thought  that  any  British 
fleet,  however  inferior  to  the  French,^  ought  to  have  captured 
or  sunk  every  ship  of  the  enemy.  Sir  Robert  Calder  was  ordered 
home  to  be  tried  by  a  court  martial.  When  the  order  arrived  he 
had  joined  Nelson  off  Trafalgar.  Nelson  was  indignant  at  the 
injustice  shown  to  a  gallant  and  victorious  officer.  The  order  of 
the  Admiralty  was  to  send  Sir  Robert  home  in  a  frigate;  but 
Nelson  swore  he  would  be  no  party  to  an  indignity  shown  to  such 
an  officer;  Sir  Robert,  he  said,  should  go  home  in  the  "Prince  of 
Wales,"  his  own  flag-ship,  though  it  would  cost  him  the  best 
three-decker  in  his  fleet  when  he  was  on  the  eve  of  a  battle.  So 
the  flag-ship,  with  its  signal  lieutenant,  sailed  for  England,  and 
my  father  lost  the  chance,  which  he  regretted  all  his  life,  of  being 
present  at  the  battle  of  Trafalgar. 

On  December  2,  1804,  Napoleon  and  Josephine  appeared  in 
great  splendor  at  Notre  Dame  to  be  crowned  by  the  Pope. 
Josephine,  always  uneasy  lest  Napoleon  should  open  the  question 
of  divorce,  well  knowing  that  their  marriage  had  been  made  only 
by  civil  contract,  implored  her  husband  to  make  their  union  more 
safe  by  an  ecclesiastical  ceremony,  and  two  nights  before  the 
Coronation  they  were  privately  married  by  the  Pope,  in  the  Chapel 
of  the  Tuileries.  All  of  us  who  have  seen  David's  great  picture 
of  the  Coronation  of  Napoleon,  which  hangs  in  the  Gallery  at 
Versailles,  can  almost  feel  as  if  we  had  witnessed  the  ceremony. 
But,  as  I  said.  Napoleon  makes  only  slight  allusions  to  it  in  his 
talks  with  Gourgaud. 

The  Emperor  and  Empress  made  a  visit  together  to  the  camp 
at  Boulogne,  where  they  were  received  with  wild  enthusiasm. 
Everything  was  ready  for  the  invasion  of  England,  which,  if  suc- 
cessful— and  they  never  doubted  its  success — was  to  leave  Napo- 
leon master  of  the  civilized  world. 

The  Death  of  the  Due  d'Enghien  meantime  excited  great 
horror  in  the  courts  of  Russia,  Austria,  Prussia,  England,  and 
Sweden;  and  while  other  countries  sent  polite  congratulations  to 
Napoleon  on  his  accession,  Russia,  Sweden,  and  England  held 
aloof.     England  indeed  was  already  at  war  with  France,  since  the 

'  Sir  Robert  Calder  had  fiiteen  sail  of  the  line  and  two  frigates  under  his 
command.  The  French  force  was  twenty  sail  of  the  line,  three  fifty-gun 
ships,  and  four  frigates. 


NAPOLEON  EMPEROR  117 

rupture  of  the  Peace  of  Amiens,  and  was  carrying  on  naval  oper- 
ations against  her  in  the  West  Indies  and  the  Mediterranean. 
Austria  wavered;  she  had  not  yet  recovered  from  the  campaign  of 
Marengo.  Prussia  also  was  unwilling  to  join  "the  Allied  Powers," 
as  the  enemies  of  Napoleon  were  afterwards  called.  But  Austria's 
indecision  was  put  an  end  to  by  the  Coronation  of  Napoleon,  at 
Milan  (May  26,  1805),  as  King  of  Italy.  She  had  not  resisted  the 
formation  of  her  former  possessions  in  Italy  into  the  Ligurian 
Republic,  but  to  have  Lombardy  made  a  vassal  kingdom  of 
France  was  an  insult  and  an  injury  which  called  for  a  renewal  of 
hostilities.  Prussia  was  bitterly  resentful  at  the  invasion  of  Han- 
over (part  of  the  German  Empire,  though  its  Elector  was  an  Eng- 
lish Prince)  and  she  was  not  reassured  when  told  that  it  was  only 
to  be  held  as  a  hostage  for  the  evacuation  of  Malta.  But  the 
King,  dreading  war,  for  which  he  was  unprepared,  vacillated,  and 
did  not  make  up  his  mind  to  act  until  the  opportunity  for  that  year 
had  escaped  him. 

Napoleon,  after  the  defeat  of  Villeneuve,  felt  that  it  was  no 
use  at  that  time  to  attempt  the  invasion  of  England;  he  broke  up 
his  camp  at  Boulogne,  and  in  all  haste  moved  his  Army  of  Eng- 
land across  the  Rhine.  He  put  his  men  into  diligences,  chaises, 
ambulances,  anything  in  short  that  would  transport  them  rapidly 
to  a  new  field  of  action.  Six  French  divisions,  each  under  a 
general  of  distinction,  crossed  the  Rhine,  converging  from  differ- 
ent points  upon  Vienna.  Meantime  General  Mack,  who  com- 
manded the  Austrian  Army,  abandoned  the  line  of  defence  which 
prudence  would  have  pointed  out  to  him,  behind  the  river  Inn, 
and  gathered  his  soldiers  around  Ulm,  a  town  of  considerable  mil- 
itary importance,  where  Napoleon,  coming  up  with  the  main  army, 
supported  by  other  divisions,  forced  him  (October  20,  1805)  to  sur- 
render.^ 

"What  caused  the  surrender  of  Mack  was  that  his 
eighty  thousand  men  were  all  in  the  houses  at  Ulm.  The 
rain  had  put  everything  into  confusion;  no  one  seemed  to 

'  On  the  day  after  Mack  surrendered  at  Ulm  (October  21,  1805)  was  fought 
the  battle  of  Trafalgar.  Napoleon  received  the  news  the  night  he  trium- 
phantly occupied  the  Emperor  of  Austria's  palace  of  Schonbrunn  in  Vienna. 

Napoleon  remained  only  a  few  days  in  Vienna.  Had  he  known  that 
Schonbrunn  would  be  the  scene  of  the  sad  life  and  death  of  his  only  son,  the 
hour  of  his  triumph  might  have  been  full  of  sad  reflections.  He  hurried  for- 
ward with  high  hopes  into  Moravia,  where  his  army  found  itself  face  to  face 
with  the  armies  of  the  Emperor  of  Austria  and  the  Czar  of  Russia. 

On  the  last  night  of  November,  1805,  he  slept  at  Brunn,  the  capital  of 
Moravia,  and  the  next  morning,  with  several  of  his  generals,  he  rode  over  the 
country  around  the  village  of  Austerlitz,  remarking  to  those  about  him  that 


ii8     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

have  the  command.  The  Archduke  Ferdinand  would  not 
obey  Mack;  I  sent  him  word  that  I  would  not  assault  the 
place,  but  I  should  take  it  by  famine.  I  knew  the  state  of 
his  army,  and  I  told  him  what  I  knew.  He  thought  the 
Russians  were  on  the  Inn;  I  assured  him  they  were  not, 
and  it  was  for  that  reason  I  was  willing  to  besiege  him. 
The  affair  at  Elchingen  had  demoralized  the  Austrians. 
Mack  owned  to  me  afterwards  that  his  troops  had  been  in 
very  great  disorder." 

"Nelson  is  a  brave  man.  If  Villeneuve  at  Aboukir 
(the  battle  of  the  Nile)  and  Dumanoir  at  Trafalgar  had 
had  a  little  of  his  blood,  the  French  would  have  been  con- 
querors.    I  ought  to  have  had  Dumanoir's  head  cut  off." 

Napoleon  valued  men  of  action  more  than  engineer 
officers  or  constructors. 

"Do  not  you  all  think  more  highly  of  Nelson  than 
of  the  best  engineers  who  construct  fortifications?  Nelson 
had  what  a  mere  engineer  officer  can  never  acquire.  It 
is  a  gift  of  nature.  I  grant  you  that  a  good  engineer  or 
a  constructor  may  be  a  very  useful  man,  but  I  never 
liked  to  reward  him  like  a  man  who  had  risked  his  life 
and  shed  his  blood.  For  instance,  I  was  very  unwilling 
to  make  Évain  a  general  of  artillery.  I  cannot  bear  an 
officer  who  has  gained  his  rank  step  by  step  in  a  bureau. 
Yet  I  know  that  there  must  occasionally  be  generals  who 
never  fired  a  shot.    But  to  promote  them  goes  against  me.  " 

"What  was  my  most  brilliant  battle.?"  asked  the  Em- 

they  would  do  well  to  observe  everything,  as  the  field  before  them  would  soon 
be  a  scene  of  conflict. 

On  December  2,  1805,  the  "sun  of  Austerlitz"  rose  with  extraordinary 
brilliancy,  and  the  day  was  hailed  by  the  French  soldiers  as  the  anniversary  of 
their  Emperor's  coronation.  The  battle  that  they  that  day  fought  has  been 
called  the  Battle  of  the  Emperors,  three  of  whom  were  present  and  in  com- 
mand. For  Napoleon  it  was  a  complete  success.  Besides  the  carnage,  which 
was  terrible,  20,000  prisoners  were  taken  by  the  French,  forty  pieces  of  artillery, 
and  all  the  standards  of  the  Russian  Imperial  Guard. 

It  led  immediately  to  peace  negotiations  with  Austria  in  which  Napoleon 
obtained  everything  he  asked  for,  and  an  armistice  was  concluded  with 
the  Russian  Emperor,  who  withdrew  his  army  within  his  own  frontier.— £■.  W.  L. 


NAPOLEON  EMPEROR  '^9 

peror  of  his  fellow-exiles.  Gourgaud  replied,"  Austerlitz." 
"Perhaps  so,  but  Borodino  (the  Moskwa)  was  superbly 
fought,  at  so  great  a  distance,  too,  from  home!  At 
Austerlitz  my  army  was  the  very  best  I  ever  had.  Splen- 
did soldiers,  and  it  was  a  superb  battle!  Great  results 
acquired  in  the  presence  of  three  emperors.  If  the  Prus- 
sians had  joined  the  Austrians  and  Russians  it  might  have 
been  embarrassing  for  me.  After  that  time  my  armies 
deteriorated,  although  at  Jena  I  still  had  fine  troops.  The 
Prussians  missed  their  opportunity  in  1805,  and  commit- 
ted a  great  error  the  next  year  in  declaring  war  against 
me." 

Napoleon  made  Eugene  Beauharnais  Viceroy  of  the  new 
kingdom  of  Italy;  Joseph  Bonaparte  was  made  King  of  Naples; 
Louis  Bonaparte  King  of  Holland;  Jerome  King  of  Westphalia; 
Murat  Grand  Duke  of  Berg.  Elisa  Bonaparte  (Princess  Baccio- 
chi)  had  the  principalities  of  Lucca,  Massa-Carrara,  and  Garfa- 
gnana,  which  she  governed  well  and  wisely;  while  Pauline 
Borghese  had  Guastalla.^  ^  n     u  j 

After  Austerlitz  Napoleon  went  back  to  Pans,  and  flushed 
with  victory,  his  first  thought  was  to  bestow  kingdoms,  principali- 
ties and  dukedoms  on  his  followers.  Kingdoms  he  gave  to 
members  of  his  own  family,  not  one  of  whom  (with  the  exception 
of  his  sister  Elisa,  Madame  Bacciochi)  proved  a  right  ruler  m 
the  right  place.  With  the  principalities  and  dukedoms  he  gave 
large  estates  in  the  conquered  countries,  thus  creating  a  foreign 
nobility  of  Frenchmen,  which  might  be  useful  to  him  at  some 
future  day. 

>  Other  princes,  without  sovereign  rights,  were  : 

Talleyrand,  Prince  of  Benevento. 

Bernadette,  Prince  of  Ponte  Corvo. 

Berthier,  Duke  of  Neufchâtel  and  Prince  of  Wagram. 

Davout,  Duke  of  Auerstadt  and  Prince  of  Eckmuhl. 

Ney,  Duke  of  Elchingen  and  Prince  of  the  Moskwa. 
Junot,  Duke  of  Abrantès.  Macdonald  Duke  of  Taranto. 

Mara  ,  Duke  of  Bassano.  Marmont   Duke  of  Ragusa. 

Bessières,  Duke  of  Istna.  Mortier  Duke  of  Trev.so 

Caulaincourt,  Duke  of  Vicenza.  Oudinot  Duke  of  Reggio. 

Duroc,  Duke  de  Friuli.  Savary  Duke  of  Rov.go. 

Fouché   Duke  of  Otranto.  Soult,  Duke  of  Dalmatia. 

KeuTrmann,  Duke  of  Vaimy.  Suchet.  Duke  of  A  bufera 

LanneJ  Duke  of  Montebello.  Augereau,  Duke  o  Cast.ghone. 

T  efebvre  Duke  of  Dantzic.  Clarke,  Due  de  Feltre. 

The;e  tÏÏes  were  not  all  conferred  in  1805,  but  they  are  here  placed  m  one 
list,  as  such  a  record  is  hard  to  find  elsewhere— £•  H  ■  •^. 


120     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

Besides  the  establishment  of  vassal  kingdoms  throughout 
Western  Europe,  which  made  Napoleon  in  fact  Emperor  of  the 
Occident,  he  had  plans  that  included  the  destruction  of  the  Holy 
Roman  Empire,  which  had  lasted  for  more  than  one  thousand 
years.  He  forced  the  Emperor  of  Austria,  by  the  Treaty  signed 
at  Presburg  immediately  after  Austerlitz,  to  relinquish  his  author- 
ity as  Emperor  of  Germany,  and  held  out  hopes  to  the  head  of 
the  House  of  Hohenzollern  that  he  should  be  Emperor  of  Ger- 
many in  Francis  Joseph's  stead.  This  hope,  which  for  some 
months  beguiled  the  King  of  Prussia  into  inactivity,  had  to  wait 
for  its  accomplishment  until  France  was  humbled  in  1871,  under 
the  Second  Empire. 

In  pursuance  of  his  system  of  destroying  the  power  and  pres- 
tige of  the  old  German  Empire,  Napoleon  formed  what  he  called 
the  Confederation  of  the  Rhine — a  league  of  the  lesser  German 
princes  on  the  frontier  of  France,  and  of  this  Confederation  he 
called  himself  the  "Protector".  At  the  same  time  he  bitterly 
opposed  the  formation  of  a  Northern  Confederacy  headed  by 
Prussia,  which  was  designed  to  oppose  further  aggressions. 

These  things  made  the  diplomatic  relations  of  France  and 
Prussia  very  much  strained.  About  this  time  occurred  a  visit  of 
the  Czar  Alexander  to  Berlin,  in  order  to  induce  the  King  of 
Prussia  to  join  the  coalition  forming  against  France,  namely, 
England,  Russia,  and  Sweden.  And  the  letter  intercepted  in  the 
French  post-office,  written  by  the  Prussian  ambassador  in  cipher 
to  his  master,  informed  him  that  there  was  reason  to  think  that 
Napoleon  and  the  Czar  were  plotting  to  break  up  the  Kingdom  of 
Prussia, 

Napoleon  had  in  fact  a  project  for  the  dismemberment  of 
Prussia,  and  was  ready  to  take  any  opportunity  of  dethroning  its 
reigning  family. 

War  broke  out  again  early  in  October,  1806.  Napoleon  was 
already  over  the  Rhine  in  the  states  of  the  Rhenish  Confederacy, 
and  the  King  of  Prussia,  without  waiting  for  the  arrival  of  a  Rus- 
sian army  which  was  marching  to  join  him,  advanced  to  attack  the 
French,  while  another  Prussian  corps  entered  Saxony,  where  the 
king  was  Napoleon's  ally.  In  less  than  a  fortnight  Napoleon  had 
turned  the  flank  of  the  King  of  Prussia's  army,  had  taken  Naum- 
burg,  where  the  king  had  deposited  all  his  ammunition  and  stores, 
and  with  a  terrific  explosion  had  blown  up  his  magazines.  A 
few  days  later  Davout  fought  the  King  of  Prussia  at  Auerstadt, 
while  Napoleon  with  his  main  army  prepared  to  fight  the  great 
battle  of  Jena.     It  took  place  on  October  14,  1806,  and  Napoleon 


NAPOLEON  EMPEROR  121 

arrived  in  Berlin  about  ten  days  afterwards.  In  three  weeks  he 
had  driven  the  King  of  Prussia  from  his  capital  to  Konigsburg. 
and  had  taken  all  his  strongholds,  except  Konigsburg  and  Dantzic, 
while  at  Jena  and  Auerstadt  he  had  annihilated  the  Prussian 
armies. 

During  his  brief  stay  at  Berlin  Napoleon  promulgated  what 
are  called  the  Berlin  Decrees:  these  were  orders  issued  to  all 
"peoples,  nations,  and  languages,"  under  the  imperial  government, 
or  in  alliance  with  France,  to  enforce  what  was  called  the  Con- 
tinental Blockade;  that  is,  to  prohibit  all  commercial  intercourse 
with  England,  her  allies,  or  her  colonies.  Anything  manufactured 
or  grown  in  England,  or  in  any  English  colony,  any  article  of 
commerce  that  had  passed  through  English  ports,  or  those  of  her 
allies  or  colonies,  if  seized,  was  to  be  publicly  destroyed.  In 
French  memoirs  and  French  novels  there  are  graphic  descriptions 
of  great  bonfires  on  the  sands  near  Dieppe  and  Ronfleur,  where 
government  officials  were  busy  feeding  the  flames  with  English 
goods,  keeping  bystanders  aloof,  who  watched  the  destruction  of 
what  would  have  been  to  them  comfort  and  affluence.  The  Con- 
tinental Blockade  was  the  most  cherished  scheme  of  Napoleon. 
It  originated  in  his  own  brain.  By  it  he  hoped  to  discourage  and 
defeat  England.  He  could  not  succeed  in  his  scheme  of  inva- 
sion; he  could  not  rival  her  as  a  sea  power;  but  he  would  cut  off 
her  commerce,  and  with  it,  he  persuaded  himself,  all  her  resources. 

But  these  decrees  aimed  at  the  power  of  England  created  for 
the  first  time  great  popular  discontent  with  the  imperial  govern- 
ment in  France.  Every  private  citizen  found  his  domestic  comfort 
invaded  by  these  orders,  while  repeated  conscriptions  bore  heavily 
on  all  classes  and  all  homes. 

At  the  same  time  Napoleon  committed  the  great  blunder 
(perhaps  I  should  say  crime)  of  exciting  hopes  he  did  not  mean  to 
gratify,  among  the  Polish  people.  He  held  out  the  most  enticing 
prospects  to  them.  His  appeals  and  addresses  encouraged  them 
to  feel  certain  that  he  would  restore  their  ancient  kingdom.  Their 
young  men  flocked  into  his  army,  looking  to  Napoleon  as  their 
liberator  and  avenger,  and  responding  with  passionate  enthusiasm 
to  the  questions  he  asked  of  them  in  his  bulletins:  "Shall  the 
Polish  throne  be  re-estabUshed,  and  shall  the  great  nation  secure 
for  it  respect  and  independence?  Shall  she  recall  it  to  life  from 
the  grave?  God  only,  who  directs  all  human  affairs,  can  solve 
this  mystery." 

On  November  28,  1806,  Napoleon  entered  Poland,  and  found 
himself  received  with  rapture  and  delight  by  the  whole  population. 


Î22     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

Their  old  national  dress  reappeared.  Hope  and  exultation  beamed 
in  every  countenance.  They  did  not  know  that  Poland  must  be 
sacrificed  if  Napoleon's  grandest  scheme  of  personal  ambition 
was  to  be  carried  out.  In  his  youth  he  had  dreamed  of  being 
another  Alexander,  a  great  conqueror,  the  Emperor  of  the  East. 
Time  and  events  had  changed  his  views.  He  had  become  the 
sovereign  of  Western  Europe.  He  might  divide  the  world  with 
an  Emperor  of  the  East.  He  had  great  confidence  in  the  ultimate 
preponderance  and  sovereignty  of  Russia. 

But  if  this  scheme  were  to  succeed,  it  would  never  do  to  leave 
a  turbulent  little  independent  kingdom,  the  natural  enemy  of 
Russia,  on  her  frontier.  It  was  better  to  incorporate  Poland  with 
the  great  power,  whose  sovereign  would  hold  her  down  with  a  firm 
hand. 

The  Russian  army  under  Benningsen,  a  skillful  general,  gave 
considerable  trouble  to  Napoleon's  marshals  and  generals;  and 
during  this  winter  the  French  first  encountered  dreadful  hardships 
from  ice  and  snow  during  their  marches.  The  drawn  battle  of 
Eylau  was  fought  in  a  snowstorm,  and  the  French  encamped  at 
night  in  deep  snow  on  the  field  of  battle,  while  the  enemy  marched 
off,  having  captured  twelve  of  their  standards.  The  result  of  this 
fight  was  a  bitter  disappointment  to  Napoleon. 

Dantzic  surrendered  in  May,  by  which  time  Napoleon  was  at 
the  head  of  an  army  of  two  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  men, 
though  many  of  them  had  been  raised  by  premature  conscrip- 
tions. Then  followed  the  battle  of  Friedland,  in  1807,  in  which 
Benningsen,  the  Russian  general,  was  outmanœuvred  and  de- 
feated. 

The  Emperor  Alexander,  overawed  by  the  genius  of  Napo- 
leon, and  unacquainted  with  his  ultimate  designs,  apprehensive 
that  the  kingdom  of  Poland  was  about  to  be  restored,  now  sin- 
cerely desired  peace.  An  armistice  was  entered  into,  and  on  a 
raft  moored  in  the  river  Niémen,  near  the  town  of  Tilsit,  the  two 
emperors  met  each  other,  shortly  after  which  they  adjourned  to 
the  town,  and  the  Treaty  of  Tilsit  was  concluded.  An  almost 
boy-like  friendship  was  then  entered  into  between  Alexander  and 
Napoleon. 

Napoleon  rightly  placed  at  Tilsit  the  apogee  of  his  prosperity. 
After  that  the  brightness  of  his  star  began  slowly  to  fade.  To  be 
complete  master  of  the  Western  (European)  world,  he  had  yet  to 
conquer  Spain,  Portugal,  and  England.  England  he  thought  had 
no  generals  fitted  to  oppose  him,  or  even  the  Marshals  he  had 
trained  in  the  art  of  war. 


NAPOLEON  EMPEROR  ^^3 

Of  Napoleon's  relations  with  Spain  in  1807  and  1808,  I  have 
given  a  full  account  in  "Spain  in  the  Nineteenth  Century."  He 
had  a  good  deal  to  say  about  Spain  in  his  talks  with  Gourgaud. 
Joseph  Bonaparte  was  made  King  of  Spain  against  his  own  will. 
The  dethroned  and  exiled  Charles  IV.  was  living  at  Amboise. 
His  son,  Ferdinand  VH.,  was  in  honorable  captivity  at  Valençay, 
Talleyrand's  almost  princely  property.  Massena,  Soult,  and 
Junot  were  Napoleon's  principal  generals  in  the  Peninsula.  So 
closed  the  year  1808,  and  another  war  was  declared  in  1809. 

"Montholon,"  says  Gourgaud,  "gathered  from  the  instruc- 
tions he  received  when  he  was  an  ambassador  in  Italy  that  His 
Majesty  aspired  to  make  himself  Emperor  of  Germany,  and  then 
to  be  crowned  Emperor  of  the  West.  The  establishment  of  the 
Confederation  of  the  Rhine  aimed  at  this  result.  At  Erfurt  it  was 
a  thing  agreed  upon,  but  Alexander  wanted  Constantinople,  which 
Napoleon  would  not  consent  he  should  have." 

"In  France  we  must  increase  the  power  of  our  infantry 
to  resist  cavalry,  so  that  we  need  never  fear  an  invasion 
by  Tartars  or  Cossacks.  I  drew  up  my  army  on  the 
plateau  of  Jena  because  Augereau  could  come  up  with  me 
on  the  road  to  the  left,  as  well  as  Ney.  Soult  was  on  the 
right.     Davout  and  Bernadotte  were  at  Naumburg. 

"If  Lannes  had  been  defeated  the  Guard  could  have 
held  out  long  enough  to  give  Soult  and  Augereau  time  to 
join  me.  Bernadotte  wanted  to  head  the  column,  instead 
of  Davout,  and  being  angry  at  not  having  obtained  what 
he  asked,  he  broke  off  from  his  colleague,  and  tried  to 
pass  between  Soult  and  the  defiles.  He  did  not  succeed 
in  this  manoeuvre,  and  Davout,  with  only  his  own  corps 
of  thirty  thousand  men,  made  head  against  the  King  of 
Prussia.  What  threw  the  enemy  into  terrible  confusion 
was  the  double  crowd  of  fugitives  who  met  each  other, 
some  coming  along  the  road  from  Neuburg,  some  flying 
from  Jena  toward  Weimar.  The  Duke  of  Brunswick 
was  a  very  poor  general.  I  made  a  mistake  when  I 
thought  better  of  him  and  fancied  he  could  do  something. 
He  had  detached  Blucher  and  the  Duke  of  Weimar  to  a 
considerable  distance,  and  it  was  his  purpose  to  cross  the 


124     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

Rhine.  The  Prussians  have  poor  soldiers!  I  ought  to 
have  had  Bernadotte  shot;  I  am  sorry  I  did  not;  but  he 
came  to  Berthier  full  of  grief  and  remorse I  ex- 
plained the  battle  of  Jena  to  Alexander  and  to  the  Duke 
of  Weimar;  they  knew  nothing  about  it."  * 

"Jena  was  a  magnificent  battle,  because  it  was  the 
one  event  of  a  successful  campaign,  all  my  movements 
being  connected  with  it.  I  ought  not  to  have  crossed  the 
Vistula.  It  was  the  taking  of  Magdeburg  that  induced 
me  to  enter  Poland.  I  did  wrong.  It  led  to  terrible 
wars.  But  the  idea  of  the  re-establishment  of  Poland 
was  a  noble  one.  At  Friedland  my  army  was  not  so  good 
as  at  Jena;  there  were  too  many  new  recruits.  But 
where  I  erred  most  fatally  was  at  Tilsit.  I  ought  to  have 
dethroned  the  King  of  Prussia.  I  hesitated  a  moment. 
I  was  sure  that  Alexander  would  not  have  opposed  it, 
provided  I  had  not  taken  the  King's  dominions  for  myself. 
I  might  have  declared  that  the  House  of  HohenzoUern  had 
ceased  to  reign,  because  at  the  time  of  the  definitive  treaty 
that  would  have  seemed  quite  natural.  A  little  Hohenzol- 
lern  who  was  figuring  on  Berthier' s  staff,  asked  me  to 
place  him  on  that  throne.  I  would  have  done  so  had  he 
been  of  the  same  branch  of  the  Hohenzollerns  as  the  great 
Frederick,  but  his  family  for  three  hundred  years  had  been 
separated  from  the  elder  branch,  and  I  thought  of  the 
protestations  that  would  certainly  be  made  by  the  King 
of  Prussia." 

"After  Jena  the  Prussians  ought  to  have  fallen  back 
on  Magdeburg,  and  have  defended  Wittenburg  and 
Torgau.  They  did  badly  throughout  the  war.  I  never 
saw  men   so   completely  beaten.     At   Ligny  they  were 

•The  Prussian  army,  on  the  evening  before  the  battle,  mustered  150,000 
men.  The  next  day  its  routed  divisions  were  roaming  about  the  country,  fall- 
ing one  after  another  into  the  enemy's  hands.  The  Duke  of  Brunswick  (the 
general  who  had  invaded  France  in  1792)  was  wounded  at  Jena,  and  died  of  his 
wounds.    He  was  the  father  of  the  duke  who  fell  at  Waterloo.— .£.  W.  L. 


NAPOLEON  EMPEROR  125 

twice  as  many  as  we  were.  Brunswick  usurped  his  repu- 
tation. Because  he  had  carried  on  a  little  partisan  war  in 
France  in  1792  he  was  exalted  into  a  hero.  Boufflers  and 
other  wits  of  the  time  were  his  friends.  They  praised 
him  in  the  salons;  they  created  his  reputation.  He  was 
only  a  court  general.  His  behavior  in  Champagne  was 
very  foolish.  If  Davout  had  not  captured  the  bridge  at 
Wittenburg  the  results  that  followed  the  battle  of  Jena 

would  not  have  been  so  great Now,  alas!  we  can 

no  longer  boast.     We,  too,  have  met  reverses." 

"Kosciusko  was  a  poor  creature.  One  never  could 
do  anything  with  him.     I  never  saw  him." 

"I  never  signed  any  treaty  about  Poland.  Caulain- 
court  at  Tilsit  drew  up  one,  but  it  was  never  signed." 

"The  Queen  of  Prussia  was  a  much  superior  woman 
to  the  Queen  of  Bavaria;  but  she  came  to  Tilsit  too  late. 
The  king  would  not  summon  her  until  he  saw  he  could  get 
nothing  from  me;  but  everything  by  the  time  she  came 
had  been  settled.  I  went  to  call  on  her,  but  she  received 
me  in  the  tragic  style,  like  Chimène  in  The  Cid:  'Sire! 
Justice!  Justice!  Magdeburg!'  She  went  on  in  this 
way,  and  greatly  embarrassed  me.  At  last  to  make  her 
stop  I  begged  her  to  sit  down,  knowing  that  nothing  is  so 
likely  to  cut  short  a  tragic  scene,  for  when  one  is  seated 
its  continuance  turns  it  into  comedy.  She  wore  a  most 
beautiful  pearl  necklace.  I  felicitated  her  upon  it.  All 
she  would  say  was,  'Ah!  my  beautiful  pearls.'  We 
dined  together,  the  King,  Alexander,  the  Queen,  I,  etc. 
During  the  whole  repast  she  would  speak  of  nothing  but 
Magdeburg.  After  dinner  the  King  and  the  Emperor  left 
me  alone  with  her.  She  still  pressed  me.  I  offered  her 
a  rose  which  happened  to  be  there.  'Yes,'  she  said, 
'but  with  Magdeburg!'  'Eh!  Madame,'  I  replied,  'it  is 
I   who   am   offering  the   rose  to  you,   not  you    to  me.' 


Î26     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

When  they  were  all  gone,  I  sent  for  Talleyrand  and 
ordered  him  to  summon  the  other  ministers,  as  I  wanted 
the  treaty  signed  that  very  evening,  otherwise  I  said  I 
should  resume  the  campaign.  I  wanted  Magdeburg  to  be 
a  protection  to  my  ally,  the  King  of  Saxony. 

"The  King  of  Prussia  was  a  real  booby.  Every  time 
he  came  to  see  me  to  talk  over  important  affairs,  he  never 
managed  to  say  anything  on  the  subject.  He  went  off 
about  shakos,  buttons,  skin  haversacks,  and  a  lot  of 
other  nonsense,  while  I  did  not  know  a  word  about  such 
trifling  military  details." 

"Alexander  always  wore  upon  his  heart  a  portrait  of 
the  two  children  he  had  had  by  the  Princess  Nariskine. 
The  Empress  is  a  foolish  woman,  much  to  blame  for 
having  borne  no  children.  They  say  Prince  Czartoryski 
was  in  love  with  her."  ^ 

"Alexander  begged  me  to  detain  the  King  of  Prussia 
at  Tilsit  while  he  went  into  the  country  with  the  Queen. 
The  King  could  not  leave  until  I  had  paid  him  a  farewell 
visit.  I  made  him  wait  eight  or  ten  hours.  He  sent  me 
word  that  he  would  excuse  my  visit,  but  I  returned  for 
answer  that  I  was  anxious  to  see  him.  I  firmly  believe 
that  the  relations  of  Alexander  with  the  Queen  were 
merely  those  of  friendly  intimacy;  all  right,  all  honorable; 
but  the  King  was  a  bore.  When  I  wanted  to  converse 
with  Alexander  I  was  obliged  to  make  plans,  so  as  not  to 
have  him  on  my  back  all  the  time.  The  'Manuscript  from 
St.  Helena'  says  truly,  that  I  committed  a  great  poHtical 

'  It  is  a  little  remarkable  that  not  one  of  the  sovereigns  who  met  to  confer 
on  the  affairs  of  Europe  at  Tilsit  had  a  son  and  heir.  Napoleon  and  Alexander 
had  no  legitimate  children  ;  the  Emperor  of  Austria  and  the  King  of  Prussia 
had  no  sons.  Of  the  leading  sovereigns  in  Europe  at  the  time  of  the  Treatj 
of  Tilsit  only  the  King  of  Prussia  had  sons.  The  Prince  Regent  in  England 
had  no  child  but  Princess  Charlotte.  Perdinand  of  Spain  never  had  a  son. 
The  King  of  Sardinia  was  childless.  Joseph  Bonaparte  had  only  daughters. 
Sweden  had  to  choose  a  successor  for  its  King  among  Napoleon's  marshals. 
The  Due  d'Angoulême,  heir  of  Louis  XVIIl.,  had  no  sons.— .£.  W.  L, 


NAPOLEON  EMPEROR  Î27 

blunder  when  I  suffered  that  dynasty  to  continue  to  reign 
in  Prussia.  Yes;  I  ought  to  have  changed  it — and  I 
could." 

"The  Queen  of  Prussia  was  a  cultivated  and  superior 
woman.  She  often  interrupted  me  as  we  talked.  One 
day  in  the  presence  of  Alexander  she  tormented  me  to 
give  her  Magdeburg;  she  wished  that  I  should  bind  my- 
self by  a  promise.  I  kept  on  refusing  her  gallantly  and 
politely;  there  was  a  rose  on  the  chimneypiece;  I  took 
it  up  and  offered  it  to  her.  She  drew  back  her  hand, 
saying,  'On  condition  that  it  be  with  Magdeburg.'  I 
replied  at  once,  'But,  Madame,  it  is  I  who  am  offering 
you  the  rose.'  After  this  I  escorted  her  to  her  carriage. 
She  asked  for  Duroc,  whom  she  liked,  and  she  began  to 
cry,  saying,  'I  have  been  cruelly  deceived.'  " 

"The  Emperor  Alexander  may  talk  about  religion,  but 
he  is  at  heart  a  materialist!  At  Tilsit  I  had  many  con- 
versations with  him  on  the  subject."  ' 

"In  order  to  kill  Paul  the  conspirators  persuaded  Alex- 
ander that  his  father  had  given  orders  for  his  arrest. 
Peter  III.  was  assassinated  because  he  had  ahenated  the 
priests  and  the  common  people." 

"Alexander  at  Tilsit  flattered  and  cajoled  the  French 
generals.  He  was  sly  and  deceitful.  He  cannot  com- 
mand armies,  and  therefore  is  an  embarrassment  when 
with  his  troops,  because  generals  do  not  like  to  go  against 
the  will  of  their  emperor.  '  ' 

'  At  Tilsit  Alexander  had  not  fallen  under  the  influence  of  Madame  de 
Kriidener,  of  which  I  have  told  in  "  Russia  and  Turkey  in  the  Nineteenth 
Century."-£.  W.  L. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

CAMPAIGNS  OF  1809  IN  SPAIN  AND  AUSTRIA. 

Affairs  in  Spain. — Battles  of  Essling  and 
Wa<jram. 


Affairs  in  Spain. 
"I  have  been  reading  in  the  'Moniteur'  the  letters 
written  to  me  by  the  King  of  Spain  and  Ferdinand.  Ma 
foi!  when  I  saw  that  the  son  was  bent  on  dethroning 
the  father,  and  the  mother  maintained  that  her  child  was 
not  the  son  of  the  King,  I  said,  'Let  us  drive  them  all 
out.  Let  there  be  no  more  Bourbons  on  the  face  of  the 
earth!'  '  After  the  campaign  in  Russia  I  made  a  great 
mistake  in  not  sending  Ferdinand  back  to  Spain;  that 
would  have  reinforced  me  with  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
thousand  good  soldiers.  If  I  had  had  those  men  during 
the  campaign  of  Lutzen  what  might  not  have  been  done 
with  them!  Metternich,  during  the  conferences  in  Prague, 
said  to  the  Emperor  of  Austria,  'Look  out!  Bonaparte  will 
withdraw  his  army  from  Spain.'  Until  Vittoria  Metter- 
nich was  always  saying:  'It  is  a  pity  the  French  armies 
in  Spain  are  retreating.     They  will  be  sent  to  Germany.' 

1  The  treaty  of  Tilsit  was  signed  July  7, 1807,  seven  months  after  the  open- 
ing of  the  campaign,  and  there  was  peace  for  a  while  among  the  great  conti- 
nental sovereigns.  War  with  England  was  carried  on,  but  it  was  chiefly  war 
upon  the  seas.  Napoleon  was  bent  upon  subjugating  Spain  and  Portugal, 
which  were  in  close  alliance  with  the  English,  and  all  English  sympathy  went 
to  assist  the  patriotic  struggle  in  the  Peninsula.  Napoleon  had  never  expected 
such  determined  resistance  as  was  offered  to  his  armies  by  the  insurrectionists 
in  Spain.  Hitherto  he  had  conducted  his  campaigns  with  pitched  battles  and 
with  large  armies  on  both  sides.  The  experience  of  warfare  with  a  whole  popu- 
lation, its  men  familiar  with  their  rivers,  crags,  and  mountain  passes,  was  new 
to  him  and  to  his  generals.  Up  to  this  time,  when  he  occupied  the  capital  and 
palace  of  a  sovereign,  both  conqueror  and  conquered  considered  the  war  virtu- 
ally at  an  end.  The  occupation  of  Madrid  by  Murat  and  his  French  troops  did 
no  more  to  subdue  the  insurrection  in  Spain  than  the  capture  of  Pretoria  did 
the  Boers.    The  first  French  army  sent  into  Southern  Spain  was  commanded 

128 


CAMPAIGNS  OF  1809  129 

"Don't  you  see  that  misfortunes  follow  fast  upon  each 
other,  and  that  when  one  is  unfortunate  all  things  turn 
out  ill?  If  that  battle  of  Vittoria  had  happened  earlier,  I 
should  have  signed  the  treaty  of  peace,  but  it  happened 
just  at  the  moment  when  I  could  not  do  so.  When  the 
Allies  saw  that  I  had  lost  that  battle,  my  guns,  and  my 
baggage,  and  that  the  English  were  entering  France,  they 
thought  I  was  lost.  The  French  people  behaved  ex- 
tremely ill  to  me  at  that  time.  The  Romans,  after  Cannae 
redoubled  their  efforts,  but  then  every  one  was  in  dread 
of  murder,  rapine,  and  pillage.  That  is  real  war.  But 
in  these  modern  times  warfare  is  all  rose-water." 

"I  made  a  great  mistake  at  the  time  of  the  Spanish 
war.  What  I  ought  to  have  done  was  to  adopt  some 
young  girl,  and  give  her  in  marriage  to  Ferdinand,  who 
asked  me  again  and  again  to  do  so.  People  said  to  me, 
'What  makes  you  hesitate?  Because  he  is  a  Bourbon? 
He  is  such  a  fool  that  he  does  not  know  the  difference 
between  Monsieur  de  Montmorin  and  Monsieur  de  Bassano. 
He  likes  neither  the  French  people  nor  the  French  nobil- 
ity. He  will  always  need  your  support  because  of  his 
colonies.'  When  he  was  at  Valençay  he  wrote  to  me 
several  times  to  ask  me  to  give  him  one  of  Joseph's 
daughters.     I  committed  a  great  mistake  in  putting  that 

by  General  Dupont,  who  was  forced  to  surrender  to  a  Spanish  force  with  all 
his 'army.  His  men  were  sent  to  the  rocky  island  of  Cabrera,  where  their 
sufferings  were  terrible.  Often  provisions  could  not  reach  them  from  the 
mainland.  Of  all  this— and  how  my  father.  Captain  Ralph  Randolph  Worme- 
ley,  then  in  command  of  the  Minorca,  was  sent  by  Admiral  Sir  Charles  Cotton 
to  report  on  the  condition  of  things  on  the  island  (Sir  Charles  had  no  diplo- 
matic excuse  for  interfering  with  the  treatment  of  French  prisoners  by  the 
Spaniards  I,  how  he  relieved  their  necessities,  and  Sir  Charles  Cotton  paved  the 
way  for  their  exchange— 1  have  told  in  "Spain  in  the  Nineteenth  Century.' 
Also  of  the  extraordinary  proceedings  at  Bayonne.  where  all  the  royal  person- 
ages of  Spain  threw  themselves  at  the  feet  of  Napoleon. 

Napoleon  in  his  talks  with  Gourgaud,  did  not  make  many  observations 
about  the  war  in  Spain,  but  he  had  much  to  say  about  the  famous  battles  in  his 
campaign  against  Austria  in  1809.  He  had  poured  troops  over  the  Pyrenees  to 
effect  the  subjugation  of  the  Peninsula,  and  Austria,  thinking  it  a  good  time 
to  avenge  her  defeat  at  Austerlitz,  collected  her  armies  and  roused  the  miscel- 
laneous populations  in  her  empire  to  rise  against  the  French,  who  in  many 
instances  had  left  garrisons  and  troops  in  the  countries  they  had  conquered. 
-£.  W.  L. 


130     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

fool  of  a  Joseph  on  the  Spanish  throne.  I  proposed  to 
Ferdinand  at  Valençay  to  send  him  back  to  Spain.  But 
he  would  not  return  to  his  own  country,  except  on  condi- 
tion that  I  would  promise  never  to  make  war  on  him.  I 
would  not  do  that;  I  wanted  the  Spaniards.  In  three 
years  I  could  have  regenerated  them.  I  did  wrong  to 
keep  Ferdinand  so  long  in  France.  In  the  end  I  signed  a 
treaty  with  him,  by  which  he  bound  himself  to  marry 
Joseph's  daughter  when  I  should  have  made  peace.  It 
was  the  campaign  in  Spain  which  hindered  me  from 
negotiating  for  peace  with  the  English." 

"Spain  needed  a  very  different  king  from  my  brother 
Joseph.  Blacke  said  it  required  a  man  three  times  more 
firm  than  I  am.  We  are  not  severe  enough  in  France 
toward  governors  of  strong  places  who  capitulate,  or 
admirals  who  surrender.  The  English  are  more  harsh, 
and  they  do  well." 

"Compare  the  sieges  in  Spain  with  those  of  the  Rus- 
sians. Think  of  Ossakoff  filling  the  trenches  with  the 
corpses  of  his  soldiers!     I  would  never  have  put  more 

than  two  hundred  men   into   Badajos Breaches 

should  never  be  attacked  with  too  many  men  at  a  time. 
If  there  are  too  many  it  will  cause  loss  and  confusion." 

"Massena  in  Portugal  began  by  doing  a  foohsh  thing; 
he  ought  to  have  turned  the  position  at  Busaco — he  who 
knew  perfectly  how  to  make  war  among  mountains.  But 
he  had  a  personal  spite  against  Wellington,  who  he  said 
was  a  polisson,^  a  man  whom  he  had  promised  me  he 
would  take  prisoner!  At  the  Moskwa  I  made  an  attack 
on  the  Russian  army's  strong  position,  but  then  I  wanted 
to  bring  on  a  battle.  Massena  might  have  attacked  the 
lines  of  Torres  Vedras  the  very  day  that  he  arrived 
before  them.  It  is  true  that  would  have  been  ex- 
tremely   prompt.     It    is  only  right,    as    a  rule,  first  to 

*  A  cowardly  scoundrel. 


CAMPAIGNS  OF  1809  131 

reconnoitre  the  position  one  is  going  to  attack,  but  I  can- 
not believe  that  hnes  eight  leagues  in  extent  could  not 
have  been  forced  at  some  point.  He  remained  a  whole 
month  before  them,  doing  nothing,  just  because  he 
wanted  to  have  things  all  his  own  way.  Ah!  Massena — 
Massena!  He  ought  to  have  blushed  to  retreat  before  a 
general  he  considered  a  polisson.  Afterwards  he  took  up 
a  position  at  Santarem,  and  did  everything  he  could  to 
establish  on  the  Tagus  a  connection  with  Soult.  That, 
too,  was  a  piece  of  folly!  That  position  at  Santarem 
Wellington  could  have  easily  turned.  Reynier  wrote  me 
that  he  feared  something  bad  might  come  of  it,  and  was 
in  a  state  of  continual  alarm.  It  is  certain  that  had  I  been 
Wellington,  I  should  have  made  myself  master  of  Mas- 
sena's  bad  position,  which  he  maintained  only  to  save  his 
own  pride.  Afterwards,  in  March,  he  decided  to  evacu- 
ate Portugal.  Then,  why  did  he  not  fall  back  on  Coimbra? 
He  might  have  maintained  himself  there.  Massena  is 
brave  on  a  battle-field,  but  is  a  poor  general." 

"Soult  might  have  captured  the  whole  English  army 
at  Roncesvalles.  He  failed  to  do  so.  He  was  a  man 
good  in  counsel,  but  weak  in  execution.  He  was  not  as 
good  as  Prince  Charles.  We  have  no  very  good  generals. 
The  Austrian  staff  officers  are  better  than  ours." 

"His  Majesty,"  says  Gourgaud,  "assured  me  that  if 
he  had  remained  in  Spain  ^  he  could  have  subdued  the 

'  On  January  22,  1809,  Napoleon  arrived  in  Paris,  having  hastened  back 
from  Spain,  riding  post-horses,  attended  by  a  single  aide-de-camp,  whose  horse 
and  his  own  horse  he  was  seen  tlogging  with  a  postillion's  heavy  whip  along  the 
roads.  He  was  anxious  to  avoid  another  war  with  Austria,  and  came  home 
with  this  speed  to  superintend  negotiations.  But  war  had  been  decided  on 
by  Austria,  and  it  was  declared  on  the  3d  of  April.  On  April  21  was  fought 
the  battle  of  Landshut,  the  Archduke  Charles  losing  g,ooo  men,  thirty  guns, 
and  all  his  baggage.  A  few  days  later  was  fought  the  battle  of  Eckraiihl,  in 
which  Davout  particularly  distinguished  himself.  The  defeated  Austrians 
sought  refuge  in  Ratisbon.  That  city  was  stormed  by  Napoleon,  who  was 
wounded  in  the  foot,  to  the  great  consternation  of  his  soldiers.  He  hardly 
waited  to  have  the  wound  dressed,  and  then  rode  along  their  lines  to  assure 
them  of  his  safety. 

On  May  10  Vienna  again  received  Napoleon  as  her  conqueror,  and  he 
again  made  his  headquarters  in  the  Imperial  Palace  of  Schônbrunn.  The  Arch- 


132     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

Peninsula.  He  thought  he  ought  to  have  stayed  there  a 
month  longer,  and  have  driven  Sir  John  Moore  into  the 
sea.  The  English  would  have  been  discouraged,  and 
would  not  have  ventured  on  the  Continent  again,  and  he 
added,  'Austria  is  the  cause  that  I  am  here.'  " 

"As  to  the  Continental  Blockade,  England  in  every- 
thing shows  herself  insatiable  ;  and  when  she  manufactures 
more  than  she  can  find  a  market  for,  there  will  be  a  glut. 
The  people  will  have  grown  accustomed  to  low  prices, 
and  when  the  merchants  find  no  outlet  for  their  goods, 
they  will  revolt.  I  have  taught  nations  on  the  Continent 
to  do  without  England.  They  will  act  henceforth  on  what 
I  have  taught  them." 

Battles  of  Essling  and  Wagram. 

"It  was  a  splendid  movement  that  I  made  at  Landshut 
in  1809.  Berthier  had  lost  his  head  when  I  reached  the 
seat  of  war.  Pire  came  and  told  me  that  Davout  was 
surrounded  and  was  about  to  be  lost.  I  might  have 
pursued  the  Austrians  into  Bohemia,  but  then  they  would 
have  retreated  on  Prague.  Besides,  I  had  no  object  in 
this  war;  Austria  had  made  war  on  me.  I  did  indeed 
think  of  separating  the  three  crowns,  but  then  again  I 
considered  that  it  was  well  to  leave  a  great  power  intact 
to  oppose  Russia,  if  necessary.  But  for  Essling  I  might 
have  demolished  the  Austrian  monarchy,  but  Esshng  cost 
me   dear,    and    I  gave    up  the  plan.     When  I    reached 

duke  Charles  collected  another  army  and  confronted  his  enemy  on  the  opposite 
bank  of  the  Danube.  Between  them  was  the  wide  and  rapid  river  with  its 
island  of  Lobau.  On  May  21,  1809,  the  drawn  battle  of  Essling  was  fought, 
both  sides  claiming  a  victory.  There  was  then  a  six  weeks'  pause.  The  Arch- 
duke, weakened  by  losses,  did  not  take  the  offensive. 

On  July  6  was  fought  the  famous  battle  of  Wagram.  At  its  close  there 
remained  in  the  hands  of  Napoleon  twenty  thousand  prisoners  and  all  the 
Archduke's  artillery  and  baggage.  After  this  an  armistice  was  concluded,  and 
peace  was  signed  in  October.  Its  terms  were  more  favorable  to  Austria  than 
could  have  been  expected,  but  Napoleon  had  already  conceived  the  plan  of  a 
divorce  and  was  contemplating  a  second  marriage.  He  had  hoped  at  Tilsit  to 
induce  Alexander  to  give  him  one  of  the  Grand  Duchesses,  but  her  mother  so 
strongly  opposed  the  match  that  the  project  was  abandoned.  His  final  choice 
fell  on  the  Emperor  of  Austria's  young  daughter,  the  Archduchess  Marie 
Louise,  and  in  every  way  it  was  a  disastrous  marriage. — E.  W.  L, 


CAMPAIGNS  OF  1809  133 

Vienna  I  feared  lest  Prince  Charles,  who  was  on  the  left 
bank  of  the  Danube,  might  have  advanced  on  Lintz,  which 
would  have  obliged  me  to  quit  the  capital.  I  wanted  to 
have  a  bridge  over  the  Danube  so  as  to  follow  him  up  if 
he  made  that  move." 

Gourgaud  remarks,  "But,  Sire,  if  he  had  crossed  at 
Lintz  he  might  have  marched  on  Vienna." 

"Yes,  that  would  have  been  going  forward  and  back, 
but  in  such  cases  one  must  be  guided  by  circumstances. 
That  was  why  when  I  reached  Vienna  I  wanted  to  take 
possession  of  the  island  of  Lobau.  It  was  like  besieging 
the  Danube.  Once  on  the  island,  there  was  only  one  arm 
of  the  river  to  cross,  not  wider  than  the  Seine.  I  made  a 
mistake  in  not  putting  my  whole  army  across  to  the  island 
more  rapidly.  But  a  great  flood  came.  I  do  not  think 
the  bridge  was  destroyed  by  the  enemy,  but  by  the  sudden 
flood.  Lasalle  warned  me  that  the  whole  force  of  the 
enemy  was  there.  When  I  had  examined  the  field  of 
battle,  as  I  had  not  enough  soldiers  to  guard  Enzendorf, 
Essling,  and  Aspern,  I  at  first  thought  of  taking  up  a 
position  behind  Essling  on  the  Danube,  but  then  I  saw 
that  the  position  at  Essling  was  too  important  to  be  aban- 
doned. I  hoped  by  the  twenty-second  to  have  Davout  to 
line  the  road  between  Essling  and  Enzendorf.  In  the 
night  between  the  twenty-first  and  twenty-second,  I  had  a 
great  notion  of  passing  over  again  to  the  island,  but  the 
disorder  reigning  on  the  bridge  convinced  me  that  it  would 
be  impossible.  The  wme  was  drawn;  we  had  to  drink  it. 
It  was  a  mistake  not  to  have  thrown  another  bridge  over 
the  lesser  branch,  still  no  one  can  say  that  Essling  was  a 
lost  battle.  The  enemy  lost  so  many  men  that  he  dared 
not  renew  the  attack.  Each  side  was  busy  licking  its 
wounds.  I  ought  not  to  have  put  back  the  bridge,  and  I 
ought  to  have  placed  ten  thousand  men  in  the  wood. 

"When  the  battle  of  Wagram  took  place  I  was  afraid 
that  Prince  Charles  would  attack  Lintz.     That  worried 


134     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST  HELENA 

me  very  much.  My  bridges  were  only  half  made,  I  had 
a  new  one  constructed  where  I  had  had  one  at  the  time  of 
the  battle  of  Essling,  to  draw  the  enemy  to  that  point. 
The  Austrians  thought  that  the  mouse  meant  to  come  out 
where  she  went  in.  They  constructed  ever  so  many 
redoubts.  When  I  crossed  over  I  endeavored  to  make  a 
great  stir,  so  as  to  prevent  the  Austrians  from  forming  in 
line  of  battle,  for  they  never  manoeuvre  well  or  promptly 
when  they  are  attacked  upon  the  march.  Davout  made 
too  great  a  detour.  Bernadotte  did  not  do  well  with  his 
Saxons,  and  the  Austrians  took  up  their  position.  Their 
line  was  more  extended  than  mine.  I  had  left  a  space 
between  my  left  and  the  Danube,  but  I  had  great  masses 
in  reserve.  I  wished  to  force  their  left  and  to  protect  my 
own.  They,  however,  outflanked  my  left,  passing  through 
the  gap,  but  my  reserves  made  a  change  of  front  to  the 
left,  and  the  right  wing  of  the  enemy  was  in  danger  of 
being  driven  into  the  river.  Schwartzenberg  told  me 
afterwards  that  it  was  this  movement  more  than  the  effect 
of  the  artillery  of  the  Guard  which  obliged  them  to 
retreat.  In  doing  this  they  opposed  a  great  mass  of  artil- 
lery to  mine,  many  French  were  killed,  and  fewer  Austri- 
ans. I  knew  that  the  Archduke  John  was  coming  up. 
That  evening  there  was  an  alarm.  I  was  in  bed,  but  I 
got  up  and  mounted  my  horse.  I  ought  to  have  repulsed 
them  more  quickly,  but  that  scoundrel  Marmont  had  done 
badly  at  Znaim  and  I  had  to  consent  to  make  peace. 

"It  was  my  marriage  with  the  Archduchess  that  led 
me  to  make  war  on  Russia.  Prussia  wanted  to  aggrandize 
herself,  and  I  thought  myself  sure  of  her  support,  and 
that  of  Austria.  I  really  had  no  other  allies.  I  was  too 
much  in  a  hurry.  I  ought  to  have  stayed  a  year  on  the 
Niémen  and  in  Prussia,  resting  and  reorganizing  my  army; 
by  that  time  I  could  have  eaten  up  Prussia.  My  troops 
were  much  fatigued  by  the  long  marches  they  had  made 
to  reach  the  Russian  frontier." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

DOMESTIC    RELATIONS. 

Napoleon's  Two  Empresses. — His  Brothers  and 
Sisters. —  His  Stepson  and  Stepdaughter. — 
His  Son  Napoleon,  King  of  Rome  and  Due  de 
Reichstadt. 


Napoleon's  Two  Empresses. 

"His  Majesty,"  says  Gourgaud,  "was  very  gay,  and 
talked  to-day  of  his  two  Empresses.  Josephine  and  Marie 
Louise,  he  said,  were  very  different.  The  latter  was 
passivity  itself.  Eugene  and  Hortense  were  not  like  their 
mother." 

His  Majesty  declared  that  he  preferred  fair  women  to 
dark  women.  "When  I  heard  Marie  Louise  was  fair  I 
was  very  glad." 

"When  I  met  Marie  Louise  on  the  road  to  Fontaine- 
bleau I  stopped  her  carriage.  I  did  not  want  her  to 
know  who  I  was,  but  the  Queen  of  Naples,  who  was  sit- 
ting beside  her,  called  out,  'There  is  the  Emperor!'  I 
sprang  into  the  travelling  carriage,  and  embraced  Marie. 
The  poor  girl  had  learned  a  long  speech  by  heart,  which 
she  was  to  kneel  and  say  to  me.  She  had  just  been 
rehearsing  it.  I  had  asked  Metternich  and  the  Bishop  of 
Nantes  if  I  should  be  justified  in  passing  the  night  under 
the  same  roof  with  her.  They  said,  'Certainly,'  and  that, 
having  been  married  by  proxy,  she  was  my  Empress  and 
no  longer  an  Archduchess.  I  asked  her  what  they  had 
told  her  before  she  left  Vienna.  'When  you  find  your- 
self alone  with  the  Emperor  Napoleon,  you  must  do 
exactly  what  he  tells  you.     You  must  obey  him  in  every- 

135 


136     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

thing   that  he  requires  of  you.'     She  was  a  charming 

young  girl I   made  a  great  mistake  in  placing 

Madame  de  Montebello  '  at  the  head  of  her  household.  I 
did  it  to  please  the  Army,  and  it  was  not  necessary. 
Marie  Louise  liked  my  new  nobility  better  than  the  old 
noblesse.  Archdukes  and  archduchesses  consider  them- 
selves so  great  that  all  nobles  are  on  the  same  level  in  their 
eyes.  Madame  de  Beauvau  in  Madame  de  Montebello's 
place  would  have  done  much  better.  Madame  de  Monte- 
bello dishonored  herself  by  not  remaining  with  Marie 
Louise  after  she  left  France.  I  wanted  to  give  her 
Narbonne  as  her  chevalier  d 'honneur;  he  was  very  desir- 
ous to  have  the  place,  and  would  have  filled  it  admirably. 
He  would  have  reported  everything  to  me.  But  Marie 
would  not  consent.  She  did  not  like  Madame  de  Monte- 
bello. She  never  told  falsehoods.  She  was  very  re- 
served, and  showed  no  open  dislike  even  to  those  she 
detested.  At  Vienna  they  had  taught  her  to  act  gra- 
ciously, even  to^  ministers  that  she  could  not  endure. 
When  she  wanted  money  she  asked  me  for  it,  and  was 
delighted  when  I  gave  her  ten  thousand  francs.  That 
charmed  me;  for  she  was  very  discreet.  Anything  might 
have  been  confided  to  her.  She  was  a  closed  box  in  the 
matter  of  secrets.  She  was  not  very  fond  of  her  father. 
I  did  wrong  to  let  Isabey  give  her  drawing  lessons.  When 
I  entered  the  room  while  the  lessons  were  going  on,  he 
seemed  embarrassed.  He  was  a  fanatic.  Prudhon  would 
have  been  better.     People  of  that  sort  are  all  spies. 

"I  think,  although  I  loved  Marie  Louise  very  sincerely, 
that  I  loved  Josephine  better.  That  was  natural;  we  had 
risen  together;  and  she  was  a  true  wife;  the  wife  I  had 
chosen.  She  was  full  of  grace,  graceful  even  in  the  way 
she  prepared  herself  for  bed;  graceful  in  undressing  her- 
self. I  should  have  liked  an  Albano  to  see  her  then,  that  he 
might  have  painted  her.     Marie  was  as  sincere  as  Joseph- 

'  The  widow  of  Marshal  Lannes. 


DOMESTIC  RELATIONS  I37 

ine  was  diplomatic.  Josephine  always  began  by  saying 
'No,'  that  she  might  have  time  for  consideration.  She 
made  debts  and  expected  me  to  pay  them.  Once  a  month 
she  made  resolutions  to  economize,  and  would  pour  out 
everything  she  had  on  her  heart  to  me.  She  was  a  true 
Parisienne.  I  never  should  have  parted  from  her  if  she 
could  have  borne  me  a  son;  but,  ma  foi " 

"Assuredly  but  for  my  marriage  with  Marie  I  never 
should  have  made  war  on  Russia;  but  I  felt  certain  of  the 
support  of  Austria,  and  I  was  wrong,  for  Austria  is  the 
natural  enemy  of  France." 

"Cardinal  Fesch  is  opinionated.  He  has  little  learn- 
ing, and  is  a  zealous  Papist;  but  he  has  an  excellent  heart. 
He  would  go  through  flames  for  me,  and  that  is  why  I 
have  confided  to  him  my  papers.  One  day  Marie  con- 
sulted the  Bishop  of  Nantes,  to  know  if  she  might  eat 
meat  on  fast-days. 

"  'Do  you  mean  at  the  table  of  His  Majesty?' 

"  'Yes.' 

"  'In  that  case  you  can.  You  ought  to  do  what  the 
Emperor  does,  and  give  rise  to  no  scandals.  Even  sup- 
posing His  Majesty  does  wrong  in  eating  meat,  you  had 
better  imitate  him;  that  will  do  less  harm  than  if  a  refusal 
on  your  part  led  to  a  scandal,  a  disagreement,  or  a  quarrel.' 

"Marie  told  me  all  this.  Well!  Fesch  would  have 
said,  'Throw  your  plate  at  his  head,  rather  than  eat  meat 
on  fast-days.'  One  could  talk  with  the  Bishop  of 
Nantes.  I  asked  him  once  if  dogs  might  not  have  souls. 
He  replied  that  there  might  be  some  place  prepared  for 
them  in  another  world,  for  that  there  were  some  dogs  and 
some  horses  that  had  marvellous  intelligence 

"Marie  always  liked  to  be  without  a  fire,  and  she 
insisted  on  having  five  or  six  lighted  candles  all  night  in 
her  room.     She  was  afraid  of  ghosts." 

"Josephine  wished  to  marry  Hortense  to  Monsieur  de 


138    TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

Gontaut-Biron,  but  his  family  feared  lest  the  Terrorists 
might  again  get  the  upper  hand,  and  as  at  that  time  the 
Jacobins  were  very  bitter  against  me,  the  Gontaut  family 
was  not  willing  to  run  the  risk  of  incurring  their  enmity." 

"Fouché  had  the  impertinence,  unauthorized  by  me, 
to  speak  to  Josephine  about  divorce.  As  if  I  had  had 
any  need  of  his  assistance  !  When  I  made  up  my  mind,  I 
said  to  the  Empress:  'You  have  children;  I  have  none. 
You  must  feel  the  necessity  that  lies  upon  me  of  strength- 
ening my  dynasty.  To  do  that  I  must  be  divorced  and 
marry  again.  That  will  be  to  the  advantage  of  your  chil- 
dren. You  cannot  alter  my  resolve,  though  you  may 
weep.  Reasons  of  State  go  before  everything.  You 
must  submit  with  a  good  grace,  for  whether  you  will  or 
no,  I  am  determined.'  " 

"Josephine  never  would  acknowledge  her  age.  Accord- 
ing to  her  calculation,  Eugene  must  have  been  bom  twelve 
years  old!" 

"When  I  told  Josephine  I  wanted  a  divorce,  she  did 
everything  that  tears  could  do  to  dissuade  me.'  I  told 
her  that  if  fifty  thousand  men  had  to  die  for  the  good  of 
their  country,  I  should  certainly  grieve  for  their  fate,  but 
should  feel  that  reasons  of  State  must  be  my  first  consid- 
eration. Then,  in  spite  of  Josephine's  tears,  I  said  to 
her:  'Will  you  submit  willingly,  or  must  I  use  force.!*  My 
mind  is  made  up.'  Josephine  the  next  day  sent  me  word 
that  she  consented.  But  when  we  sat  down  to  table,  she 
gave  a  scream  and  fainted.  Mademoiselle  d'Albert  had 
to  carry  her  away."  ^ 

•  Marchand,  Napoleon's  valet,  told  Gourgaud  that  Josephine  used  to  say 
that  the  only  way  to  manage  Napoleon  was  by  pertinacity. 

*"  Madame  Bertrand  is  kind-hearted,"  says  Gourgaud;  "1  think  she  is 
the  only  person  at  Longwood  who  has  humane  instincts  and  a  feeling  heart. 
She  told  me:  '  It  was  1  who  told  the  Emperor  that  the  Empress  Josephine 
was  dead.  When  he  met  me  on  his  arrival  at  Elba  he  made  me  get  into  his 
carriage  to  tell  him  the  last  news  from  Paris.  I  told  him  of  the  death  of  the 
Empress  Josephine.  His  face  did  not  change  ;  he  only  exclaimed  ;  "  Ah  !  she 
is  happy  now!"  '  " 


DOMESTIC  RELATIONS  139 

"It  was  my  having  wedded  a  princess  of  Austria  that 
ruined  me.  How  could  I  have  supposed  that  Austria 
would  act  as  she  has  done?" 

"When  a  man  is  fifty  years  old  he  can  seldom  be  in 
love,  Berthier  could,  but  my  heart  is  turned  to  bronze. 
I  ne^er  was  in  love,  except  perhaps  with  Josephine — a 
little.  And  I  was  twenty-seven  years  old  when  I  first 
knew  her.  I  had  a  sincere  affection  for  Marie  Louise. 
But  I  am  a  little  like  Gassion,  who  said  he  did  not  think 
life  was  worth  giving  to  others." 

"If  I  lost  the  Empress  I  would  not  marry  again. 
....  I  amazed  the  Bishop  of  Nantes  by  quoting  to  him 
whole  passages  from  the  writings  of  Saint  Bernard,  which 
are  in  the 'Lives  of  the  Saints.'  ....  The  enthusiasm 
of  those  saints  carried  them  away." 

"Madame  d'Arenberg^  is  a  créole.  She  wished  me 
to  make  her  Queen  of  Spain,  but  I  never  would  have  con- 
sented to  give  such  a  wife  to  the  King.  I  had  much  regard 
for  the  d'Arenberg  family.  They  were  like  sovereigns  in 
Brussels  and  Belgium.  But  I  became  disgusted  and  dis- 
satisfied with  Madame  d'Arenberg,  and  gave  up  seeing 
her.  At  the  time  of  my  divorce  Lucien's  daughter  came 
to  Paris.  She  stayed  with  Madame  d'Arenberg,  and 
found  fault  with  everything;  she  has  a  biting  tongue.  I 
asked  Caroline  why  Lucien's  daughter  came  to  Paris. 
After  some  pressing  I  found  out  that  all  the  family  were 
intriguing  to  make  me  marry  her.  I  strongly  opposed 
this  idea.  She  is  my  niece.  I  said  I  should  feel  I  was 
committing  incest. 

"I  at  first  thought  of  choosing  some  Parisian  lady  for 
my  wife.  I  looked  over  a  list  of  five  or  six  women.  But 
almost  everybody  I  consulted  advised  an  alliance  with 
Austria,  except  Fouché  and  Cambacérès,  who  were  afraid, 

'  Née  Tascher,  a  native  of  Martinique  and  niece  of  Josephine. 


Î40     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

because  of  their  own  conduct  in  the  days  of  the  Revolu- 
tion. In  the  end  they  saw  they  had  had  no  cause  for 
apprehension." 

Before  Napoleon's  second  marriage  the  Queen  of 
Naples  besides  Pauline  and  Hortense  tried  to  teach  him  to 
waltz,  that  he  might  dance  with  the  Empress,  but  he 
never  could  learn.     Eugene  danced  well. 

"I  wish  I  had  made  Narbonne  the  Empress's  cheva- 
lier d^ honneur.  She  did  not  like  Beauharnais,  who  had 
the  place,  but  made  fun  of  him.  She  would  never  have 
agreed,  however,  that  I  should  displace  him  for  Narbonne. 
I  ought  to  have  done  it,  however.  Narbonne  was  a  man 
of  ability  and  much  judgment.  At  Smolensk  some  one 
asked  him  what  he  thought  of  the  expedition  into  Russia; 
he  answered,  'It  is  the  ruin  of  the  Empire.'  At  Dresden 
he  urged  me  to  make  peace,  though  he  felt  certain  Austria 
did  not  really  wish  for  it.  I  should  have  done  well  to 
follow  his  advice.  I  ought  to  have  made  him  my  Minister 
for  Foreign  Affairs,  instead  of  Caulaincourt,  who  was  a 
man  of  no  ability,  incapable  of  diplomatic  correspondence, 
and  too  much  occupied  with  details  to  make  a  good 
minister." 

"Marie  Louise  was  innocence  itself,  incapable  of 
deception;  she  was  opposite  in  that  to  Josephine.  She 
loved  me.  She  always  wanted  to  be  with  me.  If  she 
had  been  well  advised,  and  had  not  had  around  her  cette 
canaille  de  Montebello,  and  that  wretch  Corvisart,  she 
would  have  come  with  me  to  Elba;  but  they  reminded  her 
that  her  aunt  had  been  guillotined  in  France,  and  circum- 
stances were  too  much  for  her.  Since  then  her  father  has 
placed  in  her  service  that  scoundrel  Neipperg!"  ' 

'  "  Every  one,"  says  Gourgaud,  "is  blaming  the  Empress  for  amusing  her- 
self with  Neipperg,  while  the  Emperor  is  here  at  St.  Helena,  and  they  are  ask- 
ing, 'Is  that  Neipperg  a  handsome  fellow?'  "  In  spite  of  these  reports  Napoleon 
took  every  opportunity  (and  the  zealous  care  of  Sir  Hudson  Lowe  made  them 
very  few)  of  sending  presents  and  messages  to  the  Empress. 


HO R TENSE  DE  BEAUHARNAIS 
Qiiee/t  oj  Holland 


DOMESTIC  RELATIONS  1 41 

"The  Empress  Marie  Louise  has  much  more  ability 
than  the  Emperor  of  Austria,  her  father.  She  could  not 
bear  her  stepmother,  the  Empress  Beatrix,  who  used  to 
write  her  long  letters,  eight  to  ten  pages  at  a  time;  such 
letters  as  an  old  woman  might  write  to  a  young  one.  It 
was  mere  pretension  and  pedantry.  Beatrix,  however, 
was  much  more  intelligent  than  the  Emperor  Francis. 
His  people  will  be  very  well  pleased  at  his  present  marriage, 
with  Princess  Augusta  of  Saxony,  because  they  feared  the 
influence  Marie  Louise  might  exert  over  her  father." 

"Princess  Augusta  of  Saxony  is  thirty-five;  she  may 
bear  children  to  the  Emperor  of  Austria.  She  was 
brought  up  with  the  idea  that  she  might  become  Queen  of 
Poland.  She  likes  the  French  and  the  Poles.  Her  rela- 
tions are  good  people.  Do  you  say  that  she  and  Marie 
Louise  may  possibly  influence  the  Emperor  Francis  in  our 
fate,  and  that  we —  Ah!  sovereigns  and  princes  are 
moved  only  by  fear." 

"Duty  was  always  the  line  of  Marie  Louise's  conduct. 
She  fancied  that  Josephine  was  an  old  woman,  so  I  said 
to  Josephine:  'She  thinks  you  are  old.  If  she  were  to 
see  you,  she  would  weep,  and  I  should  be  forced  to  send 
you  away.  It  is  not  as  it  was  in  the  time  of  Henri  IV., 
when  you,  dear,*  would  have  been  expected  to  hold  up 
the  train  of  her  robe.'  " 

Napoleon's   Brothers  and  Sisters. 

The  Emperor  spoke  of  the  Corsicans  as  brave,  but 
always  ready  to  give  a  dagger  thrust  for  nothing.  He 
said  they  were  a  kind-hearted  people,  but  ferocious.  "My 
family  were  of  the  first  rank  in  Corsica,  where  I  still  have 
many  relations."  ^ 

*  I  have  added  the  word  dear,  because  otherwise  the  reader  would  miss 
the  tenderness  in  this  speech,  shown  by  its  loving  tntoiment.—E.  W.  L. 

'The  children  of  Charles  Bonaparte  and  Letitia  Ramolino  were  all  bap- 
tized in  Corsica,  and  received  Italian  names  : 


142     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

**Murat  will  probably  join  Joseph  in  America.^  Joseph 
has  money.  As  for  me,  I  have  been  too  constantly  occu- 
pied in  State  affairs  to  attend  much  to  my  own,  and  to 
think  of  making  money.  '  ' 

''Joseph  will  marry  his  daughters  to  French  officers 
now  in  America,  and  will  give  them  each  a  million.  He 
has  put  au^ay  plenty  of  money.  His  father-in-law  told 
him  confidentially  that  I  was  sure  to  be  killed.  I  dare  say 
he  has  twenty- five  million  francs.     He  cannot  marry  his 

daughters  to  American  men  of  business Regnault^ 

is  de  la  canaille.     Lallemand  is  a  good  officer.* 

"This  news*  gives  me  no  satisfaction.  Joseph  has 
talent,  but  he  hates  work.  He  knows  nothing  of  the  art 
of  war,  though  he  thinks  he  does.  He  does  not  know  if 
a  redoubt  is  strong,  nor  how  to  attack  it.  He  knows 
nothing.  He  likes  to  enjoy  himself.  He  must  have  a 
large  fortune,  possibly  twenty  milHons.  He  would  there- 
fore make  a  great  mistake  if  he  mixed  himself  up  with  any 
revolution.  To  do  that  with  success  a  man  must  be  more 
unscrupulous  than  he  is;  have  more  brains,  and  not  be 
afraid  of  cutting  off  people's  heads.  He  is  a  great  deal 
too  soft-hearted;  nevertheless  he  has  plenty  of  ambition. 
He  believes  in  his  own  ability.  A  crown  is  a  great  temp- 
Giuseppe  (Joseph);  Napoleone  (Napoleon);  Luciano  (Lucien);  Luigi 
(Louis)  ;  Geronimo  (Jerome);  Mariana  (who  became  Elisa);  Parletta  (who 
became  Marie  Pauline);  Annunciada  (who  became  Caroline,  Queen  of  Naples). 
There  must  have  been  five  other  children  who  died  in  infancy,  for 
Napoleon  says  his  mother  had  had  thirteen  children  and  was  left  a  widow  at 
thirty.— 75.  W.L. 

»  About  two  months  after  reaching  St.  Helena,  news  arrived  that  Prince 
Joseph  had  reached  America.  The  Emperor,  on  hearing  it,  remained  thought- 
ful for  some  time,  then  expressed  satisfaction.  Joseph  had  followed  the 
Emperor  to  Rochefort,  had  ottered  to  take  his  place  and  pass  himself  off  for 
his  brother,  while  the  Emperor  should  escape  by  embarking  on  a  ship  Joseph 
had  engaged  to  take  him  to  America. 

=  A  French  officer  then  in  exile  in  America. 

^^Both  these  ladies  married  their  cousins.  Zenaïde  married  the  son  of 
Lucien  ;  Charlotte,  the  younger,  married  Napoleon  Louis,  elder  brother  of  the 
Emperor  Napoleon  IIL    He  died  soon  after  their  marriage. 

*  About  two  months  after  reaching  St.  Helena  news  came  that  a  deputa- 
tion of  Spanish-American  revolutionists  had  invited  Prince  Joseph  to  put  him- 
self at  their  head.— £.  W.  L. 


DOMESTIC  RELATIONS  143 

tation.  He  could  employ  the  French  officers  now  in  the 
United  States,  and  perhaps  it  may  suit  England  to  sepa- 
rate Spanish  America  from  its  parent  state. 

"Still — a  Frenchman  in  that  country!  That  seems 
too  much  for  me!  If  I  hear  he  has  succeeded,  I  shall  say 
I  am  very  glad.  But  to  know  that  he  is  about  to  take  his 
chance  in  such  an  enterprise  gives  me  pain.  Anyhow, 
here — we  cannot  know  the  truth  about  what  is  now  pass- 
ing in  the  rest  of  the  world." 

"With  the  army  I  generally  travelled  in  a  carriage 
during  the  day  with  a  good,  thick  pelisse  on,  because  night 
is  the  time  when  a  commander-in-chief  should  work.  If  he 
fatigues  himself  uselessly  during  the  day,  he  will  be  too 
tired  to  work  in  the  evening.  At  Vittoria  we  were  defeated 
because  Joseph  slept  too  long.  If  I  had  slept  the  night 
before  Eckmlihl  I  could  never  have  executed  that  superb 
manoeuvre,  the  finest  I  ever  made.  With  fifty  thousand 
men  I  there  defeated  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  thou- 
sand. I  multiplied  myself  by  my  activity.  I  woke  up 
Lannes  by  kicking  him  repeatedly;  he  was  so  sound 
asleep.  Ah!  mon  Dieu!  perhaps  the  rain  on  the  seven- 
teenth of  June  had  more  to  do  than  is  supposed  with  the 
loss  of  Waterloo.  If  I  had  not  been  so  weary,  I  should 
have  been  on  horseback  all  night.  Events  that  seem  very 
small  often  have  very  great  results." 

Speaking  of  the  capture  of  Paris  by  the  Allies  in  1814, 
Gourgaud  says  he  thought  that  when  Prince  Joseph  with 
the  Empress  quitted  Paris  so  abruptly,  he  did  it  in  hopes 
that  the  capture  of  Paris  would  force  His  Majesty  to  make 
peace. 

"No!  he  knew  very  well  that  Paris  being  taken  all 
was  lost.^     He  had  seen  a  corps  of  cavalry  coming  up  on 

•  Gourgaud  says  :  "The  heights  around  Paris,  which  ought  to  have  been 
fortified,  were  not.  Everywhere  want  of  preparation  was  evident.  There  were 
batteries  of  six-pound  guns  supplied  with  balls  for  eight-pounders.  Your 
Majesty's  brother  Joseph  went  oti  without  leaving  any  orders.  An  aide-de- 
camp of  Marmont's  rode  after  him,  hoping  to  get  some,  but  failed  to  come  up 
with  him.    1  think  he  wanted  thus  to  force  Your  Majesty  to  make  peace." 


144     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

the  left,  and  was  afraid  of  being  cut  off.  Joseph  is  not 
a  soldier,  and  has  no  soldierly  courage.  He  would  stay 
under  fire,  but  be  all  the  time  tightening  his  belt;  for  he 
is  constitutionally  timid.  The  Empress  would  have  re- 
mained in  Paris,  but  would  not  have  given  orders.  I  did 
very  wrong  to  make  Joseph  a  king,  especially  of  Spain,  a 
country  that  needed  a  firm  and  vigorous  sovereign.  But 
at  Madrid  Joseph  was  always  thinking  about  women. 
He  is  clever,  but  he  accounts  himself  a  soldier,  and  has 
no  knowledge  of  the  art  of  war.  He  has  done  me  a 
great  deal  of  harm,  and  will  do  me  more  if  he  join 
the  revolutionists  in  South  America.  He  is  not  the 
proper  man  to  head  a  revolution.  When  I  was  First 
Consul  my  brothers  had  no  households,  but  people  paid 
court  to  them,  because  of  me!  Lafayette  and  Mathieu 
de  Montmorency  were  always  at  Joseph's.  When  he  was 
King  of  Naples  he  asked  me  to  give  them  to  him  for 
chamberlains,  and  tormented  me  to  do  so.  I  left  him  free 
to  ask  them,  but  they  slipped  out  of  his  hands.  My 
brothers  have  done  me  a  great  deal  of  harm." 

"Great  private  fortunes  are  made  in  India,  and  great 
riches  come  from  that  source  into  England.  It  was  so 
with  France  during  the  war  with  Spain.  Joseph  worried 
me  to  make  the  custom-houses  prevent  money  from  com- 
ing out  of  his  Kingdom,  or  else  to  send  it  back  to  his 
Treasury,  which  would  have  required  proof  of  whence  it 
came.  I  pointed  out  to  him  that  the  generals  would  then 
invest  their  booty  in  diamonds,  or  send  their  money  to 
England,  which  might  lead  to  their  betraying  us.  Spain 
would  lose  as  much  as  ever,  and  we  should  gain  nothing.  '  ' 

"There  comes  a  time  when  a  man  gets  tired  of  every- 
thing; more  or  less  wealth  does  nothing  to  affect  his  hap- 
piness, provided  he  has  what  is  necessary  for  his  wants. 
Prince  Louis  has  two  hundred  thousand  francs  income; 


DOMESTIC  RELATIONS  145 

well,  in  alms  and  chanties  he  spends  a  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand.  Do  not  you  think  that  his  is  a  noble  exist- 
ence? I  repeat,  money  and  honors  will  not  make  men 
happy." 

The  Emperor  declared  that  he  never  should  have 
thought  Madame  de  Lavalette  capable  of  such  a  deed  as 
was  reported  of  her.'  He  thought  her  a  little  fool.  He  had 
prevented  her  marriage  with  his  brother  Louis  Bonaparte, 
because  she  was  the  daughter  of  émigrés.  Perhaps  he  did 
wrong.  Afterwards  he  was  very  reluctant  to  marry  Louis 
to  Hortense.  He  would  have  preferred  that  his  brother 
had  married  a  young  lady  in  good  society  in  Paris,  and 
that  his  step-daughter  should  marry  the  heir  of  some 
great  old  French  family.  That  would  have  been  much 
better,  but  at  the  time  of  their  marriage  they  were  not 
great  enough  to  succeed  in  doing  this,  and  were  obliged 
to  marry  each  other. 

We  talked  of  Prince  Louis.  Montholon  said  that 
when  he  left  Gratz  he  was  deeply  regretted.  He  had 
done  much  good  there.  He  had  given  two  country 
houses  to  his  friends. 

The  Emperor  said:  "Louis  was  a  booby.  And  yet 
I  brought  him  up  myself!     He  cannot  be  older  than  Gour- 

'  Madame  de  Lavalette  was  the  niece  of  Josephine  by  marriage,  Made- 
moiselle de  Beauharnais,  cousin  and  intimate  friend  of  Hortense.  They  had 
been  pupils  together  at  the  famous  school  of  Madame  Campan.  Lavalette 
had  been  Postmaster  General  under  Napoleon.  In  1815,  after  the  departure  of 
the  King  for  Ghent,  he  retained  his  place  and  did  great  service  for  the  cause  of 
his  old  master.  For  this  he  was  condemned  to  death  at  the  same  time  as  Ney  and 
Labédoyère.  Two  days  before  the  date  fixed  for  his  execution  his  wife  had 
permission  to  dine  with  him.  She  came  in  a  sedan  chair,  with  her  little  girl 
and  a  governess.  When  she  left  in  the  evening  she  was  supported  by  the  child 
and  governess,  with  her  handkerchief  to  her  face,  apparently  weeping  bitterly. 
The  keeper  of  the  prison,  gomg  soon  after  to  Lavalette's  place  of  confinement, 
found  him  gone  and  his  wife  sitting  there.  The  governess  had  worn  two  suits 
of  woman's  clothes.  Every  search  was  made  ;  nothing  was  found  but  the  sedan 
chair,  in  which  the  little  girl  had  been  left  alone.  Her  father  and  the  governess 
had  escaped  mysteriously.  Lavalette  remained  a  fortnight  in  hiding  in  Paris, 
but  communicated  with  Sir  Robert  Wilson  and  two  other  English  gentlemen. 
They  procured  him  the  uniform  of  an  English  colonel,  and  late  in  the  evening 
of  January  7,  1816,  he  went  to  the  residence  of  Sir  Robert  Wilson.  The  next 
morning,  in  a  cabriolet,  he  and  Sir  Robert  passed  the  barriers,  which  had  been 
guarded  to  prevent  Lavalette's  escape.    He  safely  reached  Germany;  but  the 


146     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST  HELENA 

gaud.  When  he  was  a  small  boy  he  made  poetry.  I 
dare  say  he  could  then  have  written  the  bad  romances  he 
wrote  afterwards,  but  for  heaven's  sake,  why  did  he  get 
them  pubUshed?  He  surely  was  inspired  by  the  devil. 
....  I  heard  he  had  lent  money  to  the  King  of 
Prussia."  * 

"That  article  in  the  Quarterly  Review  is  a  libel  as 
regards  Waterloo,"  said  Gourgaud  on  June  23,  1817. 

"Ah!  let  us  speak  of  something  else,"  said  Napoleon; 
"this  subject  puts  me  in  a  bad  temper.  The  Review 
tells  of  Louis  and  Lucien.  After  the  i8th  Brumaire,  Lucien 
tormented  me  to  let  him  marry  the  Queen  of  Etruria — 
him  !  who  was  then  posing  as  a  Republican  !  Yet  I  never 
knew  a  more  ambitious  man.  Such  a  marriage  was  not 
then  part  of  my  pohcy;  quite  the  contrary!  I  felt  the 
necessity  of  being  thought  more  in  sympathy  than  I  was 
with  Repubhcan  principles.  Then  Lucien,  seeing  that  I 
would  not  have  him  make  this  marriage,  told  me  that  in 
that  case  he  would  marry  some  disreputable  woman.  I 
had  no  fear  of  him,  and  the  Republicans  had  no  esteem 
for  him.  What  an  idea  it  was  of  his  to  go  and  dedicate 
his  epic  to  the  Pope  !  ^  I  made  a  great  mistake  when,  in 
181 5,  I  thought  he  might  be  of  use  to  me.  He  did  not 
rally  to  me  a  single  person." 

French  Government,  irritated  by  his  escape,  had  the  cruelty  to  imprison  his 
poor  wife,  who  lost  her  reason.  In  1840  my  father  and  mother  had  an  apart- 
ment in  the  Rue  Matignon,  in  Paris,  Next  door  to  us  lived  this  poor  lady.  We 
never  saw  her;  she  was  quite  insane.  She  drove  out  occasionally  with  an 
attendant,  but  got  into  her  carriage  in  the  courtyard,  to  avoid  observation.— 
£.  W.  L. 

»  Louis,  after  he  abdicated  the  throne  of  Holland,  July  i,  1810,  took  the 
name  of  Comte  de  St.  Leu,  his  country  place  in  the  north  of  France.  Napoleon, 
who  looked  upon  his  eldest  son  as  his  heir,  had  already  claimed  bis  guardian- 
ship, but  the  boy  died,  to  the  great  grief  of  his  parents  and  his  uncle.  Two 
sons  were  left— Napoleon  Louis  and  Louis  Napoleon.  The  elder  was  claimed 
by  his  father  after  his  separation  from  Hortense  ;  the  younger  remained  with 
his  mother.  Both  joined  the  carbonari  in  Italy  in  1831,  and  the  elder  died 
near  Ancona  while  engaged  in  a  revolt.  He  had  recently  married  his  cousin 
Charlotte,  daughter  of  Joseph  Bonaparte.  The  history  of  all  these  personages 
is  told  in  my  "  France  in  the  Nineteenth  Century."— .£.  W.  L. 

»  "  Charlemagne." 


DOMESTIC  RELATIONS  147 

"Lucien  is  in  Rome,  where  he  has  great  steel  works. 
When  I  was  at  Elba,  he  wanted  me  to  give  him  my  miner- 
als for  nothing."  * 

Of  Jerome,  Napoleon's  youngest  brother,  whom  he  destined 
for  the  navy,  but  made  King  of  Westphalia,  no  mention  whatever 
is  made  in  these  familiar  talks  with  Gourgaud.  He  had  entirely 
broken  with  the  Emperor  some  years  before.  A  gentleman, 
prominent  fifty  years  ago  in  the  literary  circles  of  Boston,  told 
me  that  when  he  was  in  Europe  in  his  youth  he  visited  King 
Jerome  at  Cassel,  his  capital,  and  that  that  Prince  showed  him  his 
correspondence  with  the  Emperor.  The  American  gentleman 
was  amazed  that  he  should  have  been  willing  to  do  so,  for  every 
letter  was  filled  with  reproaches,  administered  in  Napoleon's 
somewhat  brutal  way.  The  last  letter  said,  "You  are  such  a  fool 
I  will  write  to  you  no  more;  nor  do  I  care  to  hear  from  you.  All 
correspondence  between  us  can  be  conducted  by  our  secretaries." 

Jerome,  after  abdicating  his  throne,  joined  his  brother  in 
1815,  and  fought  bravely  at  Waterloo,  where  he  was  wounded 
but  is  said  to  have  exclaimed,  "We  ought  to  die  here!  We  can 
die  nowhere  better  than  here  !" 

When  a  lieutenant  in  the  navy  he  married  in  Baltimore  with 
all  the  ceremonial  of  the  Catholic  Church,  Miss  Elizabeth  Pater- 
son.  Napoleon  never  countenanced  this  marriage,  but  in  1807 
forced  his  brother  to  marry  a  Princess  of  Wiirtemburg,  stepniece 
by  marriage  to  the  Prince  Regent  of  England.  This  Princess  was 
a  woman  whom  all  who  read  her  history  must  delight  to  honor. 
When,  after  the  downfall  of  the  Napoleons,  she  was  entreated  to 
abandon  her  husband,  like  Marie  Louise,  she  wrote  to  her  father: 
"You  obliged  me  to  marry  a  man  I  did  not  know,  and  therefore 
could  not  love.  I  have  been  his  wife  in  his  prosperity;  I  will  not 
forsake  him  now  that  that  prosperity  has  gone." 

Madame  Bonaparte  of  Baltimore,  about  the  same  time  got  a 
divorce  from  the  legislature  at  Annapolis,  and  became  legally 
Elizabeth  Paterson,  though  she  was  still  called  Madame  Bona- 
parte. Her  son,  Jerome  Bonaparte,  was  strikingly  like  his  uncle, 
the  Emperor,  though  his  complexion  was  more  florid.  In  1840 
my  father  took  me  to  see  him  at  a  hotel  in  Geneva.  He  talked 
freely,  and  seemed  delighted  at  my  father's  cordial  recognition  of 
his  likeness  to  the  Emperor.  His  two  sons,  Jerome  and  Charles 
Bonaparte,  have  in    every  way  done  credit   to  their  illustrious 

'  Lucien's  son  Charles,  the  Prince  of  Canino,  came  to  America,  and  is 
known  by  his  admirable  work  on  .American  ornithology. 


148     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

name.  Jerome  graduated  at  West  Point  with  honor.  He  married 
a  near  relative  of  Daniel  Webster.  Charles  stands  foremost  among 
the  honored  and  respected  citizens  of  Baltimore.  It  is  said  that  the 
Emperor  Napoleon  III.  offered  these  young  men  wealth  and  rank 
if  they  would  become  Frenchmen,  and  acknowledge  the  illegiti- 
macy of  their  mother's  marriage.     These  offers  were  refused. 

The  children  of  Jerome  and  the  Princess  Catherine  of  Wiir- 
temburg  were  Jerome  Napoleon  and  Mathilde.  Jerome  Napoleon 
is  better  known  as  Plon-Plon.  He  was  conspicuous  as  the  cousin 
and  companion  of  Napoleon  III.  He  married  Princess  Clotilde, 
daughter  of  King  Victor  Emmanuel.  Prince  Victor  Napoleon, 
the  present  Italian  pretender  to  the  imperial  throne  of  France,  is 
his  eldest  son.  Prince  Louis  (General  Bonaparte  in  the  Russian 
service)  is  the  younger.  Before  Napoleon  III.'s  marriage  Princess 
Mathilde  did  the  honors  of  the  French  court. 

Although  King  Jerome  had  expressed  a  wish  to  die  at 
Waterloo,  he  survived  till  i860.  In  1847,  when  we  lived  in  an 
apartment  in  the  Rue  Neuve  de  Berri  on  the  corner  of  the  Champs 
Élysées,  King  Jerome  occupied  a  hotel  opposite  to  us.  Paris  was 
in  great  excitement  in  1847.  It  was  on  the  eve  of  a  revolution 
which  had  no  leader,  and  no  well-recognized  aim.  Possibly  King 
Jerome  foresaw  that  chance  for  Napoleonism  which  came  three 
years  later.  At  any  rate,  at  night  close  carriages  used  to  drive 
into  his  courtyard,  presumably  containing  persons  of  note  who 
did  not  wish  themselves  known.  But  before  the  days  of  February, 
1848,  the  old  brother  of  Napoleon  received  notice  from  the  govern- 
ment that  he  had  better  remove.  The  noise  of  the  carriages 
ceased,  and  we  slept  in  quiet.  King  Jerome  saw  the  Second 
Empire  in  its  glory,  his  children  prosperous,  and  had  no  premo- 
nition of  the  collapse  that  was  to  take  place  in  another  ten  years. 

"Pauline  is  in  Rome,  where  she  sees  many  English 
people.  All  the  better,  so  many  of  my  enemies  are 
gained  over  by  her." 

"When  Madame  Bertrand  was  in  the  Isle  of  Elba  she 
never  came  to  see  me;  but  she  often  visited  my  sister 
Pauline,  who  made  her  presents — a  dress  or  some  such 
thing.  So,  on  my  return  to  Paris  I  would  not  give 
Madame  Bertrand  my  portrait  set  with  diamonds.  You 
complain  that  the  Bertrands  will  not  do  little  services 


DOMESTIC  RELATIONS  149 

for  you  ;  that  is  because  Bertrand  is  absorbed  in  his  wife, 
and  thinks  of  nothing  but  his  children!  See  how  httle 
they  do  for  me!  Men  are  Uke  that.  You  are  young,  and 
you  get  too  much  attached  to  people;  you  should  laugh 
with  them  and  be  polite  to  them,  and  amiable,  but  never 
give  your  heart  to  another  man  as  you  might  to  a  mistress.  " 

Madame  mire  wrote  to  the  Emperor  at  St.  Helena: 
"I  am  very  old  to  make  a  journey  of  two  thousand 
leagues.  Perhaps  I  should  die  on  the  voyage;  but  no 
matter.     I  should  then  die  nearer  to  you."  ' 

"You  know  that  there  is  a  report  that  the  Queen  of 

Naples    is  about  to  make  a  second  marriage It 

would  be  most  infamous.  She  is  thirty- four;  she  has 
been  married  twenty  years;  she  has  children  sixteen  or 
seventeen  years  of  age.  She  ought  not  to  be  thinking  of 
love  affairs.  And  then,  why  should  she  marry?  Publicly, 
too  ....  and  at  Vienna!  No,  I  cannot  believe  it.  She 
may  have  gone  to  Austria  on  business.  Somebody  who 
has  seen  her  in  a  church  has  invented  this  story.  We 
saw  something  of  the  same  kind  in  the  English  papers; 
they  spoke  of  it  very  lightly,  but  the  paper  from  the  Cape 
speaks  of  it  as  a  certainty.  I  only  hope  the  Governor  of 
Cape  Colony,  out  of  ill-nature,  has  allowed  the  insertion 
of  the  article.  We  have  many  partisans  at  the  Cape. 
They  regret  me,  me  and  their  King  Louis, ^  and  cannot 
endure  the  English.  Ma  foi!  if  this  news  is  true  it  will 
be  the  thing  in  all  my  life  that  has  most  astonished  me. 
Only  fifteen  months  after  her  husband  was  murdered! 
Can  one  imagine  a  queen  contracting  another  marriage  of 

'  Princess  Pauline  often  wrote  to  her  brother  at  St.  Helena.  She  was  liv- 
ing with  her  mother  in  Rome,  when  the  old  lady  wrote  her  son  this  affecting 
letter,  offering  to  come  out  and  join  him  at  St.  Helena.  Pauline's  first  husband 
was  General  Leclerc,  who  died  in  St.  Domingo.— £■.  W.  L. 

'Louis  Bonaparte,  when  King  of  Holland,  was  likewise  King  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  Dutch  settlements  in  Cape  Colony  before  its  cession  to  the 
English  Government. 


150     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

this  sort,  and  her  who  was  always  so  proud  and  so  ambi- 
tious!    Ah!  human  nature  is  very  inexpHcable ! "  * 

Napoleon's  Stepson  and  Stepdaughter. 

"Madame  mere  never  wished  to  see  Hortense  again, 
after  she  had  accepted  the  title  of  Duchesse  de  Saint 
Leu.     I  forced  my  mother  to  receive  her. 

"Louis  did  quite  right  to  reclaim  Napoleon  Louis  his 
son.  What  right  had  his  mother  to  consent  that  he 
should  accept  the  title  of  Due  de  Saint  Leu?  Who 
knows  what  might  happen  if  some  day  the  Dutch  wish  to 
recall  my  brother?  By  making  himself  a  Frenchman  he 
declares  himself  to  be  a  vassal  of  the  King  of  France. 
The  authorities  did  right  in  restoring  the  boy  to  his  father. 
None  but  Paris  lawyers  could  have  put  the  thing  in  doubt. 
In  general,  in  all  law  cases  one  must  be  guided  by  what 
is  just.  One  cannot  go  wrong  then.  Who  can  say  that 
if  the  boy  had  stayed  with  his  mother  some  harm  might 
not  have  befallen  him?  He  might  have  been  taken  as  a 
hostage.  While  with  his  father  he  is  where  he  ought  to 
be.    If  any  evil  befall  him,  no  one  can  be  blamed  for  it."  ^ 

"The  King  of  Bavaria  did  not  want  to  give  his  daugh- 
ter to  Eugene,  saying  he  was  only  my  adopted  son;  and 
he  could  only  be  the  Vicomte  de  Beauharnais.  I  gave 
him  to  understand  that  I  would  ask  an  Austrian  Princess 
for  my  stepson,  and  that  he  must  make  up  his  mind  at 
once.  Josephine,  before  that,  had  suffered  affronts  at 
Munich,  where  they  were  always  talking  before  her  of  the 
loves  of  the  Princess  and  the  Duke  of  Baden.     When  I 

*  Caroline  took  for  her  second  husband  General  Napoleon  Macdonald,  son 
of  Marshal  Macdonald;  but  the  marriage  was  so  little  spoken  of  that  there  is 
no  mention  of  it  in  encyclopedias,  except  in  Michaud's  "Biographie  Uni- 
verselle.'' She  lived  a  very  retired  life  at  Trieste,  and  in  a  château  near 
Vienna,  where  she  devoted  herself  to  the  education  of  her  children.  She  took 
the  name  of  Countess  of  Lipona.— £.  W.  L. 

'  Napoleon  Louis  died  on  his  march  to  Ancona,  1831.  He  was  a  young 
man  of  great  promise  and  very  handsome.  He  was  elder  brother  of  Napoleon 
\\\.  Both  brothers  bad  joined  the  Carbonari^  and  were  assisting  to  invade  the 
Papal  territory. 


DOMESTIC  RELATIONS  151 

passed  through  Munich  the  King  of  Bavaria  came  into  my 
cabinet  with  a  veiled  lady.  He  raised  her  veil.  It  was 
his  daughter.  I  thought  her  charming,  and  I  was,  I  own, 
a  little  embarrassed.  That  was  what  made  the  King 
report  that  I  beheld  her  with  ecstasy.  I  begged  the  young 
lady  to  sit  down,  and  they  made  a  little  sign  to  her  lady-in- 
waiting  to  withdraw.  Ought  princesses  to  fall  in  love.? 
They  are  political  chattels.  The  Queen  of  Bavaria  was 
pretty.  I  was  always  glad  to  find  myself  with  her.  One 
day  in  hunting  the  King  went  on  before.  I  said  I  would 
rejoin  him.  But  I  went  to  see  the  Queen,  and  stayed 
with  her  an  hour  and  a  half.  That  made  the  King  very 
angry,  and  when  he  and  his  wife  met  he  scolded  her. 
She  answered:  'Would  you  have  wished  me  to  turn  him 
out  of  my  door.-"  Subsequently  I  paid  dear  for  such 
gallantries,  for  the  King  and  Queen  followed  me  on  my 
journey  to  Italy.  They  were  always  in  my  way.  They 
had  wretched  carriages,  which  were  always  breaking 
down.  I  was  obliged  to  take  them  into  mine.  At  Venice 
they  were  with  me,  and  I  was  not  sorry  for  that.  It 
looked  as  if  I  were  attended  by  a  cortège  of  kings." 

"Prince  Eugene  has  a  'level  head' — good  judgment, 
but  no  genius.  The  Italians  did  not  like  him,  because  he 
was  economical.  He  governed  Italy  admirably.  I  had 
nothing  to  do  with  it.  He  never  said  anything  to  me 
when  I  was  at  Elba,  about  the  money  he  had  from  me, 
but  he  took  all  the  plate  from  Milan,  which  was  mine,  and 
which  I  never  have  asked  him  to  return  to  me.  He  must 
have  several  millions. 

"He  has  been  induced  to  take  a  first  false  step;  '  the 
fact  was  published  at  once  in  the  "Moniteur."     There  is 

'  Napoleon  probably  alludes  to  Eugene's  having  given  up  his  Viceroyalty 
in  Italy,  on  the  fall  of  the  Empire,  when  he  retired  to  Munich.  He  had  married 
the  daughter  of  the  King  of  Bavaria,  and  the  marriage  was  apparently  a  satis- 
factory one.  He  lived  quietly  in  Munich  until  his  death,  in  1824.  His  son,  the 
Due  de  Leuchtenberg,  married  a  member  of  the  imperial  family  of  Russia  and 
entered  the  Russian  army. 


152     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

no  way  now  of  getting  out  of  it.    That  is  how  people  are 
often  induced  to  do  things  that  they  never  intended." 

Napoleon's  Son,  Napoleon,  King  of  Rome  and 
Due  de  Reichstadt. 

"I  gave  Dubois  a  hundred  thousand  francs  for  his  ser- 
vices as  accoucheur  at  the  birth  of  my  son.  It  was  on 
Corvisart's  recommendation  that  I  employed  him.  I  had 
better  have  taken  the  first  accoucheur  that  came  to  hand. 
The  day  the  child  was  born  the  Empress  had  walked  for 
some  time  with  me.  Her  pains  were  coming  on,  but  they 
did  not  think  the  birth  would  take  place  for  four  hours. 
I  took  my  bath.  While  I  was  in  it,  Dubois  rushed  to 
me  in  great  excitement,  pale  as  death.  I  cried  out,  'Is 
she  dead?' — for  as  I  have  been  long  accustomed  to  hear 
of  startling  events,  they  do  not  take  great  effect  on  me 
when  first  announced  to  me.  It  is  afterwards.  What- 
ever might  be  told  me  I  should  feel  nothing  at  first.  An 
hour  later  I  should  feel  the  blow.  Dubois  assured  me  no 
— but  that  the  child  was  not  coming  to  the  birth  in  the 
usual  way.  That  was  very  unfortunate.  It  is  a  thing 
that  does  not  happen  once  in  two  thousand  cases. 

"I  rushed  at  once  to  the  Empress.  She  had  to  be 
moved  onto  another  bed  that  they  might  use  instruments. 
Madame  de  Montesquiou  reassured  the  Empress,  telling 
her  that  the  same  thing  had  happened  twice  to  herself,  and 
encouraged  her  to  let  the  doctors  do  what  they  thought 
necessary.  She  screamed  horribly.  I  am  not  naturally 
soft-hearted,  yet  I  was  much  moved  when  I  saw  how  she 
suffered.  Dubois  hardly  knew  what  to  do,  and  wanted 
to  wait  for  Corvisart.  The  Duchesse  de  Montebello  acted 
like  a  fool. 

"When  the  King  of  Rome  was  born  it  was  at  least  a 
minute  before  he  gave  a  cry.  When  I  came  in  he  was 
lying  on  a  coverlet  as  if  dead.  Madame  de  Montebello 
wanted  to  follow  out  all  the  rules  of  court  etiquette  on  the 


DOMESTIC  RELATIONS  i53 

occasion.  Corvisart  sent  her  oflf  at  once.  At  last,  after 
much  rubbing,  the  child  came  to  himself.  He  was  only 
a  little  scratched  about  the  head.  The  Empress  had 
thought  herself  lost.  She  had  persuaded  herself  that  her 
life  was  to  be  sacrificed  to  save  that  of  the  child.  But  I 
had  given  orders  quite  to  the  contrary."  ' 

"The  King  of  Rome  is  related  to  the  King  of  Naples. 
He  is  also  related  through  him  to  the  Emperor  Alexander. 
Through  the  Princess  of  Wiirtemburg,  wife  of  Jerome, 
he  is  related  to  the  Prince  Regent.  My  family  is  allied  to 
the  families  of  all  the  sovereigns  of  Europe,  including  the 
Duchesse  d'Angoulême  and  the  Due  de  Berry." 

'  Gourgaud  says  :  "  Marie  Louise,  when  her  son  was  born,  was  convinced 
she  was  to  be  sacrificed  to  save  her  child.  She  cried:  'lam  the  Empress; 
they  do  not  care  for  me,  but  they  want  above  all  things  to  preserve  the  life  of 
my  son.'  The  poor  young  girl  was  greatly  to  be  pitied,  separated  as  she  was 
from  all  her  family,  and  she  thought  herself  lost.  The  Emperor  wanted  to 
have  the  Grand  Duke  of  Wurtzburg  (a  Bavarian  Prince)  admitted  into  her 
chamber  to  encourage  her.    She  held  the  bands  of  her  husband  all  the  time." 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  CAMPAIGNS  IN  RUSSIA,  IN  GERMANY, 
AND  IN  FRANCE. 

Russia  in  1812. — Germany  in  1813. — France  in  1814. 


Russia  in  1812. 

"I  did  not  want  to  make  war  on  Russia,  but  Monsieur 
de  Kourakine  sent  a  menacing  note  on  the  subject  of  the 
conduct  of  Davout's  troops  in  Hamburg.  Bassano  and 
Champagny,  then  my  foreign  ministers,  were  inferior  men. 
They  did  not  understand  the  real  motives  that  had  dictated 
the  note,  and  I  could  not  possibly  in  my  position  exchange 
explanations  with  Kourakine.  They  persuaded  me  that 
the  note  was  meant  for  a  declaration  of  war,  and  that 
Russia,  which  had  recalled  her  troops  from  Moldavia,  was 
going  to  take  the  initiative,  and  was  about  to  enter  War- 
saw. Then  Kourakine  grew  menacing,  and  asked  for 
his  passports.  I  really  thought  that  Russia  wanted  war. 
I  set  out  for  the  army.  I  sent  Lauriston  to  Alexander. 
He  was  not  received;  I  had  already  sent  Narbonne,  and 
everything  confirmed  me  in  the  opinion  that  Russia  wished 
for  war.  So  I  crossed  the  Niémen  near  Wilna.^  Alex- 
ander sent  a  general  to  me  to  assure  me  that  he  did  not 
wish  for  war.  I  treated  this  ambassador  with  great  kind- 
ness; he  even  dined  with  me.     But  I  thought  his  mission 

»  Why  France  and  Russia  went  to  war  in  1812  has  been  a  puzzle  to  histo- 
rians. It  was  no  less  so  to  Napoleon's  companions  in  exile  at  St.  Helena.  There 
is  no  doubt  the  war  was  popular  among  the  inhabitants  of  Russia,  who  espe- 
cially resented  the  enforcement  of  the  system  called  the  Continental  Blockade, 
which  curtailed  the  comforts  of  every  private  household. 

Gourgaudsays  :  "What  were  the  real  motives  of  the  campaign  m  Russia? 
I  do  not  know;  possibly  the  Emperor  himself  did  not  know,  any  more  than  I 
did.  Was  it  that  he  might  open  a  way  to  India  if  the  dynasty  in  Russia  were 
changed?  His  preparations  and  his  tents  seemed  to  indicate  that  this  might 
be  his  ultimate  design."— £.  W.  L. 

154 


THE   VARIOUS  CAMPAIGNS  155 

was  a  ruse  to  prevent  General  Bagration  from  being  inter- 
cepted. I  went  on  with  my  military  operations,  for  the 
Russian  envoy  proposed  to  me  to  recross  the  Niémen,  and 
to  re-establish  the  authority  of  Alexander  where  I  had 
attacked  it." 

Las  Cases  said:  "If  Your  Majesty  had  made  peace 
with  Spain  and  withdrawn  the  army  from  the  Peninsula, 
you  might  have  had  from  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
to  two  hundred  thousand  more  men  to  carry  the  war  into 
Russia."  "But,"  replied  the  Emperor,  "that  would 
have  been  two  hundred  thousand  more  men  who  would 
have  been  lost.  It  seems  that  when  I  was  at  Moscow, 
Alexander  wished  to  treat  with  me;  but  that  he  did  not 
dare,  because  he  was  surrounded  by  partisans  of  Eng- 
land. He  was  afraid  of  being  strangled.  I  would  not 
have  declared  war  against  Russia  but  that  I  was  per- 
suaded she  was  about  to  declare  war  against  me.  I  well 
knew  the  difficulties  to  be  encountered  in  such  a  campaign. 
The  destruction  of  Moscow  was  a  great  blow  to  Russia. 
It  will  put  her  back  for  fifty  years." 

"The  author  of  the  'Manuscript  from  St.  Helena'  ex- 
plains very  clearly  the  Continental  system,  and  the  affairs  of 
Spain.  I  only  hope  no  one  will  suspect  that  I  have  writ- 
ten it.'  He  talks  nonsense  when  he  says  that  I  did  not  do 
enough  for  the  Poles.  On  the  contrary,  I  did  too  much. 
I  was  conducting  that  affair  all  right.  I  meant  to  re-estab- 
lish Poland.  After  Austerlitz  I  had  the  means  of  forcing 
two  great  powers,  Prussia  and  Austria,  to  consent  to  the 
re-establishment  of  the  Kingdom  of  Poland;  but  I  failed 
with  Russia.  The  writer  does  not  know  the  affairs  of 
Poland.  He  is  ignorant  of  what  passed  at  Dresden.  He 
talks  nonsense  when  he  says  that  Austria  would  not  con- 
sent to  give  up  her  Polish  provinces.  I  did  all  that  was 
possible  in  a  brief  space  of  time." 

•  It  is  generally  believed  that  the  "  Manuscript  "  was  inspired  by  Napoleon 
and  written  from  notes  furnished  by  him.— £.  W'.  L. 


156     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  //ELENA 

"Deceit  has  a  very  short  reign.  My  marriage  with 
Marie  Louise  was  the  cause  of  the  expedition  into  Russia, 
and  even  at  Dresden  I  ought  to  have  made  peace,  when  I 
found  that  Sweden  and  Turkey  would  not  aid  me.  It  is 
true  that,  in  spite  of  that,  had  I  been  the  conqueror  at 
Moscow,  I  should  have  succeeded.  My  great  error  was 
staying  in  that  city  too  long.  But  for  that,  my  enterprise 
might  have  been  crowned  with  success." 

"Russia  is  on  the  march  to  conquer  the  universe.  By 
the  trend  of  events  one  can  see  that  well.  Since  the  time 
of  Paul  I.  her  progress  is  astonishing.  She  can  arm  three 
hundred  thousand  foot  soldiers,  and  three  hundred  thou- 
sand to  four  hundred  thousand  Tartars  or  Cossacks — 
which  would  be  all  the  easier  because  such  of  them  as 
have  made  the  recent  campaigns  have  carried  home  much 
booty,  and  would  be  delighted  with  the  chance  to  overrun 
Western  Europe.  Could  Prussia  or  Austria  form  a  dam 
to  stay  this  torrent?  Besides,  religion  favors  Russian 
conquests  over  the  Turks.  All  the  Greeks,  and  there  are 
numbers  of  them  at  Constantinople,  are  for  the  Russians. 
Andréossi  told  me  that  when  Moscow  was  burned  the 
Greeks  in  Constantinople  took  it  greatly  to  heart.  That 
conflagration,  it  is  true,  has  retarded  the  development  of 
Russia.  It  lost  her  more  than  a  thousand  million  francs. 
If  the  Emperor  Alexander  had  been  at  the  head  of  his 
army,  he  would  not  have  suffered  his  ancient  capital  to  be 
destroyed.  He  would  have  preferred  to  make  peace. 
He  even  declared  that  he  would  have  made  peace  had  I 
marched  on  St.  Petersburg.  St.  Petersburg  was  doubtless 
not  sorry  for  the  destruction  of  her  rival.  I  should  have 
done  better  to  attack  St.  Petersburg,  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment, and  of  business.  Still  Moscow  is  the  real  capital 
of  the  Russian  Empire;  it  is  more  in  its  centre  than  St. 
Petersburg,  which  is  two  hundred  leagues  away.  Our 
march  on  Moscow  did  great  damage,  however,  to  the 


THE   VARIOUS  CAMPAIGNS  157 

Russians.     Wiasma  and  Smolensk  were  very  pretty  cities. 
There  were  factories  in  them  which  were  destroyed. 

"Koutouzoff  would  have  done  better  to  take  up  a  posi- 
tion on  my  right  flank;  not  to  burn  Moscow,  and  not  to 
give  battle.  But,  after  the  battle,  this  movement  was  no 
longer  dangerous.  '  ' 

"After  all,  Russia  has  nothing  to  fear  from  Sweden; 
she  will  in  the  end  become  mistress  of  the  world.  At 
Erfurt  I  had  arranged  with  Alexander  the  division  of  the 
Turkish  Empire.  He  was  to  let  me  have  Egypt  and 
Syria,  while  he  would  take  Roumelia.  The  difficulty  was 
about  Constantinople.  The  treaty  was  drawn  up  ready  to 
be  signed,  but  when  it  came  to  signing  it,  I  would  not.  I 
had  considered  that  the  Greeks  at  Constantinople  and  in 
Roumelia  are  the  same  as  the  Muscovites,  and  that,  if 
Russia  armed  them,  one  or  two  Russian  regiments  would 
be  enough  to  hold  Constantinople. 

"What  a  superb  city  Moscow  was!  None  of  you 
here  at  St.  Helena  have  seen  it,  except  myself  and  Gour- 
gaud.     We  were  both  there." 

"Russia  ought  always  to  make  common  cause  with 
France.  The  Russian  government  is  much  more  noble 
and  liberal  than  that  of  Austria.  Rostoptchin,  who  burned 
Moscow,  left  in  his  palace  papers  which  proved  that  Rus- 
sia had  as  many  causes  for  antipathy  to  England  as 
France.     Austria  has  no  navy." 

"Now  that  I  am  no  longer  there,  Alexander  will  march 
on  Constantinople.  He  does  not  apprehend  anything 
from  Poland,  and  the  Greeks  are  all  for  him.  At  Erfurt 
he  asked  me  to  let  him  take  Constantinople,  but  I  would 
not  consent;  and  the  matter  was  postponed. 

"If  the  Russians  had  not  burned  Moscow  I  should 
have  been  master  of  their  country.  I  should  have  let  the 
peasants  come  back  to  their  homes,  that  they  might  supply 


15S     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

me  with  provisions  and  horses;  possibly  they  would  have 
made  an  insurrection.  I  ought  not  to  have  stayed  in 
Moscow  more  than  two  weeks  at  the  utmost,  the  city 
having  been  burned  ;  but  I  was  deceived  from  day  to  day.  '  '  ^ 

"One  day,  on  the  retreat,  my  sledge  broke  down,  and 
as  I  got  into  it  again,  I  was  recognized.  But  before  those 
who  saw  me  had  decided  what  to  do,  I  was  far  away  again. 
The  only  person  I  made  myself  known  to  on  my  route  was 
the  King  of  Saxony.  I  had  been  preceded  by  news  of  the 
victory  of  the  Beresina,  and  I  reached  Paris  before  the 
public  knew  of  our  disasters." 

"Once,  at  the  Institute,  I  read  a  paper  on  Tacitus,  but 
though  I  spoke  of  him  as  the  greatest  literary  colorist  in 
antiquity,  I  said  that  he  never  explained  the  motives 
which  led  men  to  perform  certain  actions  ....  I  am 
reproached  for  not  getting  myself  killed  at  Waterloo. 
....  I  think  I  ought  rather  to  have  died  at  the  battle  of 
the  Moskwa." 

"Russia  can  now,  with  her  three  hundred  thousand 
Cossacks,  sweep  over  Europe.  She  has  the  Greeks  all 
for  her.  She  might  have  to  kill  a  million  of  Turks,  but 
what  of  that?  I  would  not  consent  that  Russia  should 
take  Constantinople,  because  the  Greeks  would  have  at 
once  become  the  Czar's  most  devoted  subjects,  whilst  the 
countries  I  should  have  received  in  exchange  would  not 
have  given  me  one  man  on  whom  I  could  rely.  Russia 
holds  the  cards  for  a  great  game.  Austria  will  soon  find 
that  Francis  Joseph  is  but  a  pitiful  emperor.  Perhaps  the 
Germans  may  depose  him.  Russia  is  in  a  favorable  posi- 
tion to  conquer  the  world."  "' 

'  "At  Moscow,"  says  Gourgaud,  "the  first  symptoms  of  the  Emperor's 
failing  health  were  noticed  by  his  followers,  and  his  legs  swelled." 

'  "The  Emperor,"  says  Gourgaud,  "  told  me  that  the  Turks,  on  hearing 
that  the  French  had  entered  Moscow,  foretold  that  the  army  would  perish  of 
the  cold." 


THE  VARIOUS  CAMPAIGNS  i59 

"I  cannot  write  the  history  of  the  campaign  in  Russia. 
I  could  write  only  a  few  reflections,  such  as:  'I  ought  not 
to  have  stayed  thirty-five  days  at  the  Kremlin.  I  ought 
to  have  stayed  only  two  weeks  there.  I  ought,  after 
entering  Moscow,  to  have  destroyed  the  remains  of 
Koutouzoff's  army.  I  ought  to  have  gone  on  to  Maloi- 
Yaroslavitz,  and  have  marched  on  Toula  and  Kalouga, 
and  then  I  ought  to  have  proposed  to  the  Russians  to 
retire,  without  destroying  anything.  I  could  not  have 
fallen  back  on  Riga  after  leaving  Moscow.  Koutouzoff 
would  have  intercepted  me  by  way  of  Mozhaisk.'  " 

"Murat  and  Bessières,"  said  Gourgaud,  "probably 
induced  you  not  to  go  toward  Maloi-Yaroslavitz." 

"No;  I  was  the  master,  and  mine  was  the  fault. 
Davout  offered  to  hold  the  Kremlin  the  whole  winter. 
....  At  Wiasma  I  heard  of  the  march  of  the  army  of 

Moldavia When  I  should  have  reached  Smolensk, 

my  plan  was  to  put  my  army  into  winter  quarters.  I 
should  have  put  my  soldiers  into  barracks.  I  would  not 
have  scattered  them  through  the  villages.  Vitebsk  had 
large  magazines.  But  at  Smolensk  I  hesitated  about 
attacking  that  town  without  crossing  the  Dniester,  when 
I  heard  that  it  had  been  taken  by  the  Russians.  I  hesi- 
tated a  moment  before  reaching  Borisov,  whether  I  should 
not  fall  upon  Wittgenstein.  I  should  have  had  time  to  do 
so.  Koutouzoff  was  following  me,  but  it  was  at  a  dis- 
tance.    His  army  was  ten  days'  march  behind  mine."  ' 

Gourgaud  had  shown  the  Emperor  some  observations 
he  had  written  on  the  causes  of  the  Russian  war,  his  infor- 
mation being  drawn  from  bulletins.  "I  will  not,"  said 
the  Emperor,  "have  you  write  about  the  political  causes 

'  A  French  general,  who  had  been  a  staff  officer  in  that  campaign,  told 
me,  in  1849,  that  he  was  the  only  one  on  the  staff  who  brought  his  horses  back 
from  Russia  safe.  The  Polish  cavalry  kept  their  horses  tit  for  service, 
because  their  shoes  were  roughed— a  precaution  the  French  have  not  learned 
even  now,  as  any  one  may  see  on  a  day  of  ice  and  snow  in  the  streets  of  Faris. — 
E.  W.L. 


i6o     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

of  that  campaign.  You  would  have  to  go  back  to  Tilsit 
and  Erfurt,  and  even  to  the  Treaty  drawn  up  by  Caulain- 
court  concerning  Poland,  which  I  never  signed." 

Napoleon  remarked  that  Koutouzoff  lost  Moscow 
because  he  was  not  sufficiently  intrenched  there.  The 
battle  of  the  Moskwa  was  gained  because  the  great  redoubt 
was  taken  the  night  before  the  battle.  "A  general  should 
always  have  good  lines  of  circumvallation.  " 

"At  Ostrowo  and  at  Vitebsk  I  succeeded  in  cutting 
off  the  Russian  army  from  the  road  to  St.  Petersburg. 
At  Smolensk  Junot  did  nothing  but  commit  foolish  mis- 
takes. It  was  the  same  thing  at  Valoutina.  I  had  sent 
you  to  him,  Gourgaud.  It  was  you  who  came  and  told 
me  that  he  could  cut  off  the  Russian  rear  guard,  but  that 
he  could  not  make  up  his  mind  to  go  forward.  You  said 
to  him,  ''Monsieur  le  Duc,  if  the  Emperor  asks  me  why 
you  have  not  advanced,  what  must  I  tell  him?'  He 
answered  in  an  embarrassed  way:  'Tell  him  that  night  is 
coming  on,  and  that  I  have  taken  up  my  position.' 
Thereupon  I  superseded  him  before  morning." 

At  the  Moskwa  I  might  have  turned  to  the  right 
of  their  formidable  redoubt  on  a  hill,  and  by  doing  so  I 
could  have  forced  the  Russians  to  abandon  it,  but  I  did 
not  think  it  so  strong  but  that  I  could  take  it,  and  I 
needed  a  battle." 

"I  never  deserted  my  soldiers.     In  Egypt  my  army 

was   provided   with    everything In    Russia? — It 

would  have  been  absurd  to  stay  there.  Prussia  would 
have  declared  war  against  me  two  months  earlier  than  she 
did,  and  Austria  too." 

"When  I  quitted  the  army  I  committed  a  great  fault 
in  intrusting  the  command  of  it  to  Murat,  the  most  unfit 
man  to  do  well  under  adverse  circumstances — and  so  was 


THE   VARIOUS  CAMPAIGNS  ^^i 

Berthier      I  ought  to  have  left  the  command  to  Eugene, 
a  man  of  good,  sound  judgment,  who  would  at  any  rate 
have  carried  out  my  orders.     I  recommended  Murat  to 
make  short   marches,    and    instead   he  sometimes   made 
thirty  miles  a  day!     If.  on  arriving  at  Wilna,  Murat  had 
bivouacked  before  it,  with  the  commander  of  every  corps, 
and  had  put  in  line  thirty  good  officers,  he  might  have 
rallied  a  hundred  thousand  men.     They  might  have  sus- 
tained themselves  there  all  winter.    You  were  there,  were 
vou  not,  Gourgaud?     Murat  was  an  incapable,  cowardly 
man  in  defeat;  he  was  good  only  under  fire.     There  were 
immense  magazines  at  Wilna.     I  had  committed  a  great 
error  in  not  surrounding  the    place  with   pahsades  and 
about  fifteen  redoubts,   as  I  did  Dresden.     I  did  order 
a  camp  to  be  formed,  but  all  the  same  it  was  my  fault 
that  I  was  not  obeyed.     A  general  should  see  that  his 
orders   are   carried   out.     Ney,   after   the  affair   of   the 
Beresina,  wanted  to  turn  to  the  right  toward  Wilna.     I 
made  him  go  to  the  left.     You  were  there,  Gourgaud.     I 
had  at  least  seven  to  eight  thousand  men  in  my  guard. 
That  was  all  that  was  wanted  to  beat  the  Russian  arniy. 
It  followed  us  slowly,  and  left  as  many  corpses  as  we  did 
on  the  road." 

"At  the  Moskwa  I  made  a  military  mistake  in  attack- 
ing the  entrenched  position  of  the  Russians,  but  I  was 
eager  for  a  great  battle,^  for  an  army  that  has  a  large 
body  of  cavalry  and  can  manœuvre  behind  a  line  of  strong 
redoubts  ought  not  to  be  attacked.  By  skillful  manœuvres 
an  enemy  ought  to  be  induced  to  change  his  position. 

"Ah'  the  Emperor  of  Russia,  the  Emperor  of  Austria, 
and  the  Bourbons  themselves  would  have  treated  us  favor- 
ably had  I  surrendered  to  them.     They  would  have  given 

.Napoleon  asks  Gourgaud  :"  What  -f  -y.X'EmperorV'bïl'thè 
Gourgaud  replies.  "  A-terlitz.      '  J^'^P^^^  °-  J^^'fv    nd  haH  asle'ep  he  was 


1 62     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

me  provinces  to  govern.  They  would  have  been  too 
happy  to  have  me  in  their  charge.  So  say  the  commis- 
sioners." * 

Germany  in  1813. 

Napoleon,  in  his  talks  with  Gourgaud,  made  very  few  allusions 
to  what  happened  between  his  return  to  Paris  in  December,  1812, 
and  the  time  of  his  abdication  at  Fontainebleau,  1814.  As  he  was 
hurrying  to  Paris,  unattended,  almost  alone,  he  was  met  on  his 
way  by  one  piece  of  bad  news  after  another.  As  he  himself  says  : 
"Misfortunes  always  follow  one  another." 

Had  he  been  an  Englishman  he  would  probably  have  quoted 
the  same  sentiment  from  Shakespeare: 

"When  sorrows  come,  they  come  not  single  spies, 
But  in  battalions." 

There  had  been  a  conspiracy  in  Paris  ;  twenty-seven  of  the 
conspirators  (many  of  whom  Napoleon  would  have  spared)  had 
been  summarily  executed.  There  was  news  of  Lord  Wellington's 
successes  in  Spain  and  Portugal;  and  after  the  battle  of  Vittoria, 
the  allied  English,  Portuguese,  and  Spanish  army  was  driving  the 
French  back  to  the  Pyrenees.  In  spite  of  the  fearful  loss  of  lives 
in  the  Russian  campaign,  which  must  have  brought  sorrow  into 
many  and  many  a  French  household,  his  people  rejoiced  with 
enthusiasm  when  assured  of  the  safety  of  their  Emperor.  He 
raised  another  army  by  anticipating  conscriptions,  but  the  new 
regiments  were  composed  of  conscripts,  most  of  them  mere  boys. 
They  were  not  like  the  veterans  who  had  perished  in  Russia. 
The  young  soldiers  had  plenty  of  spirit,  however,  and  during  the 
campaign  of  1813  in  Germany,  and  that  of  France  in  1814,  they 
made  marches  and  fought  battles  which  added  to  French  military 
renown,  but  failed  to  improve  the  situation. 

In  April  Napoleon  was  again  with  his  army  in  Germany.  He 
removed  Murat,  with  whom  he  was  much  displeased,  and  put 
Eugene,  the  Viceroy  of  Italy,  in  his  place,  as  his  own  second  in 
command.  The  central  point  of  his  operations  was  Dresden. 
Russia,  Prussia,  Sweden,  and  England  were  in  arms  against 
him.  He  was  negotiating  with  Austria,  whose  Emperor  he  hoped, 
for  his  daughter's  sake,  would  not  join  the  coalition.  An  armistice 
for  a  month  was  signed  June  13,  1813.  A  diplomatic  conference 
was  held  in  Prague.     Napoleon  solicited  the  mediation  of  his 

'France,  Russia,  and  Austria  sent  commissioners  to  watch  Napoleon  at 
St.  Helena  and  to  render  reports  to  their  governments,— j£.  W.  L. 


THE   VARIOUS  CAMPAIGNS  163 

father-in-law.  But  the  Emperor  of  Austria  would  not  undertake 
to  plead  his  cause,  unless  he  would  agree  to  terms  which  would 
confine  France  within  her  natural  boundaries.  Napoleon  spoke 
little  of  these  negotiations,  of  the  battle  of  Dresden,  and  of  the 
death  of  Moreau.  Of  Bautzen  and  of  Leipsic  he  said  nothing. 
The  Allies  entered  France,  and  although  Napoleon's  military 
movements  in  that  country  have  always  been  considered  masterly, 
he  says  nothing  about  them,  if  we  except  some  allusions  to  the 
battle  of  Brienne,  where  he  saw  his  old  haunts  for  the  first  time 
since  his  school-days.  Gourgaud  saved  his  master's  life  in 
that  battle  by  shooting  a  Cossack  who  was  about  to  run  him 
through  with  his  lance;  but  either  because  he  loved  to  tease 
Gourgaud,  or  because  he  feared  that  his  follower,  who  liked  to 
make  much  of  his  sacrifices  and  services,  might  presume  on  having 
saved  his  life.  Napoleon  positively  denied  all  knowledge  of  the 
obligation,  unmoved  by  Gourgaud's  tears,  and  the  testimony  of 
his  fellow-exiles. 

To  his  abdication  at  Fontainebleau  in  favor  of  his  son,  and 
his  deportation  to  the  Island  of  Elba,  there  are  only  scant 
allusions. 

The  Emperor  Alexander,  moved  by  the  remembrance  of  their 
brief  friendship  at  Tilsit,  and  perhaps  by  the  pleadings  of  the 
Empress  Josephine,  whom  he  visited  at  Malmaison,  obtained 
better  terms  for  Napoleon  personally  than  might  have  been 
expected. 

Napoleon  was  to  retain  his  imperial  title,  with  the  free  sov- 
ereignty of  Elba,  guards  and  a  navy  suitable  to  the  extent  of  the 
island,  and  a  pension  from  France  of  six  million  francs  a  year. 
His  wife  was  to  be  made  Duchess  of  Parma,  and  liberal  pensions 
were  to  be  given  to  Josephine  and  other  members  of  the  Bonaparte 
family.  None  of  this  money  was  ever  paid  by  Louis  XVIII.  and 
his  ministers. 

Gourgaud  says:  "Your  Majesty  did  wrong  to  conclude 
the  armistice  of  June  13,  1 813.  The  Russians  and  Prus- 
sians had  an  army  of  only  sixty-five  thousand  men,  you 
might  have  made  them  fall  back  beyond  the  Vistula." 

"Yes,  I  believe  I  did  wrong,  but  I  hoped  to  arrange 
matters  with  Austria;  my  army  was  much  fatigued.  I 
ought  to  do  justice  to  Soult;  he  thought  I  ought  not  to 
sign  the  armistice,  but  Berthier,  who  was  getting  into  his 
dotage,  and  Caulaincourt  pressed  me  to  sign  it.     After 


164     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

Dresden  the  Emperor  of  Austria  wrote  to  me;  he  spoke 
of  his  daughter,  he  thought  he  was  beaten,  but  then 
came  the  affair  in  which  Vandamme  lost  everything  at 
Kulm." 

"Gourgaud  rephed:  "Sarrazin  says  that  Your  Majesty 
ought  to  have  sent  Saint-Cyr  to  retrieve  what  Vandamme 
lost." 

"No;  where  I  erred  was  in  employing  Saint-Cyr  at  all. 
He  does  not  care  to  be  under  fire,  he  never  visits  his 
posts,  he  lets  his  comrades  fight  without  assisting  them; 
he  might  have  helped  Vandamme.  I  took  Saint-Cyr  into 
my  service  to  please  the  Comte  de  Lobau.  He  was 
always  talking  of  him.  He  was  popular  with  the  men 
under  him,  for  he  seldom  made  them  fight  ;  he  took  great 
care  not  to  lose  his  soldiers.  Lobau  was  one  of  the  colo- 
nels placed  under  his  orders.  He  has  changed  his  opinion 
of  him  since.  Moreau,  who  was  personally  a  great  friend 
of  his,  was  obliged  to  drive  him  out  of  his  army;  he  could 
do  nothing  with  him. 

"Macdonald  manoeuvred  very  badly.  It  is  possible 
that  even  at  that  time  Souham  was  playing  false  with  me. 
Moreau  and  Bernadotte  were  with  the  allied  army." 

"Marmont,  who  always  would  follow  out  his  own  ideas, 
did  not  choose  to  take  up  the  position  I  directed  him  to 
do  at  Leipsic.  I,  too,  made  blunders,  and  the  Austrians 
ran  a  much  greater  risk  in  attacking  me  at  Dresden  on  the 
left  bank  than  on  the  right." 

France  in  1814. 

"Have  you  read  Beauchamp's  book  on  18 14.''  Ah, 
what  a  rascal!  But  perhaps,  as  you  say,  his  libels  have 
made  me  a  great  many  partisans.  I  have  read  the  defence 
of  Marmont;  '  it  is  very  weak.     Could  I,  when  I  reached 

*  Marmont  was  Military  Governor  of  Paris.  Joseph  was  the  Emperor's 
representative.  When  the  Allies  appeared  before  the  gates  of  Paris,  all  was 
disorder  in  the  garrison,  and  Marmont  surrendered.— £.  W.  L. 


THE   VARIOUS  CAMPAIGNS  165 

the  Cour-de- France,'  have  possibly  reached  Paris?  Could 
I  have  had  the  drums  beaten  to  call  all  the  population  to 
arms,  and  have  sounded  the  tocsin?  I  had  just  received 
news  that  the  barriers  of  Paris  had  been  given  up  to  the 
Allies,  and  I  thought  I  should  ruin  myself  for  nothing.  I 
ought  to  have  left  Troyes  the  same  evening  I  reached  it, 
instead  of  the  next  morning.  Then  I  should  have  reached 
Paris  in  time.    I  do  not  remember  about  sending  Dejean.  '  '  ■ 

"What  was  the  greatest  fault  I  committed  in  18 14?" 

Gourgaud  answers:  "Not  having  taken  Vitry  by  assault 
when  coming  back  from  Arcis.  It  was  very  unfortunate 
that  Your  Majesty  had  not  more  closely  reconnoitred  the 
place." 

"True;  that  was  a  great  error.  It  might  have  stopped 
the  Allies  short,  but  they  told  me  that  if  I  made  that 
attack,  I  should  lose  my  Guard.  I  was  wrong.  After- 
wards at  Vassy,  Macdonald  fancied  he  was  pursued  by  the 
whole  army  of  the  enemy.  I  turned  back  to  drive  it  into 
the  Marne.     There  was  nobody  there  but  Wintzingerode.  '  ' 

"All!  Sire,"  said  Gourgaud,  "Gérard  told  me  so  that 
morning,  when  he  saw  Your  Majesty  deploying  your 
army." 

A  bust  of  the  little  King  of  Rome,  made  by  an  Italian  sculptor 
who  had  seen  the  child  while  he  was  at  the  baths  of  Lucca,  arrived 
at  |St.  Helena  on  board  of  an  Indiaman,  in  charge  of  a  gunner, 
who  was  promised  handsome  pay  by  a  banker  in  London  if  he 
succeeded  in  getting  it  safe  to  the  captive  father.     He  was  found 

'  A  place  between  Fontainebleau  and  Paris. 

'Gourgaud  here  says  :  "Your  Majesty  sent  me  with  two  hundred  horse 
to  Troyes  to  prevent  the  enemy  from  burning  the  bridges.  Your  Majesty  gave 
me  orders  to  write  from  that  city  to  the  Minister  of  War  in  Paris  to  hold  out  to 
the  last,  for  you  were  coming  on  close  behind  the  enemy.  I  set  out,  but  Gerar- 
din  soon  passed  me.  I  collected  eight  hundred  stragglers  in  Troyes  and  put 
the  National  Guard  under  arms.  1  tried  to  get  a  courier,  but  there  was  only 
one  post-horse  to  be  had.  Then  Dejean  arrived  and  assured  me  Your  Majesty 
was  sending  him  to  Paris.  He  implored  me  to  let  him  have  the  horse.  I  told 
him  what  Your  Majesty  had  instructed  me  to  write,  and  let  him  take  the  post- 
horse.  Your  Majesty  arrived  in  a  carriage,  only  two  or  three  chasseurs  escort- 
ing it,  and  before  you  went  to  bed  I  made  my  report  of  how  I  had  fulfilled  my 
orders.  Next  day  at  ten  o  clock  Your  Majesty  started  at  a  gallop  in  a  light  car- 
riage for  Villeneuve-l'Archevcque  ;  thence  you  reached  Sens,  Fontainebleau, 
and  the  Cour-de-France,  where  you  arrived  at  eleven  o'clock  at  night,   II  Your 


1 66     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

out,  however,  and  the  bust  came  to  the  knowledge  of  Sir  Hudson 
Lowe  and  Sir  Thomas  Reade,  his  second  in  command.  The  latter 
was  very  desirous  to  break  it,  or  to  cast  it  into  the  sea;  but  the 
captain  of  the  Indiaman  refused  to  surrender  it  to  any  one  but  an 
agent  of  Napoleon.  Finally  it  was  delivered  to  Bertrand,  together 
with  other  presents  from  influential  English  friends  of  the  exiles. 

Gourgaud  unpacks  the  bust  at  the  house  of  Bertrand,  and 
brings  word  of  what  he  has  done  to  the  Emperor,  who  is  waiting 
for  it  alone.  His  first  question  is:  "What  decoration  does  he 
wear?" 

"The  eagle." 

"Not  the  eagle  of  St.  Stephen,  I  trust.'" 

"No;  it  is  the  same  eagle  that  Your  Majesty  wears. 

Gourgaud  then  receives  orders  to  bring  the  bust.  The 
Emperor's  first  thought  was  to  examine  the  decoration.  He  then 
looked  earnestly  at  the  face  of  the  child.  He  thought  him  hand- 
some, though  his  head  was  rather  bent,  and  found  him  like  his 
mother. 

"Was  it,"  he  asked,  "the  Empress,  or  the  sculptor,  who 
chose  the  eagle?" 

All  the  little  court  at  Longwood  thought  the  boy  charming. 

Majesty  had  reached  Troyes  earlier  you  could  hardly  have  procured  fresh 
horses.  Besides,  General  Dejean  ran  much  risk  of  being  taken.  Things  did 
not  seem  so  desperate  that  every  risk  should  be  incurred.  People  are  now 
looking  upon  Marmont  as  the  first  traitor,  and  yet  there  were  traitors  far  worse 
than  he.  The  heights  round  Paris,  which  ought  to  have  been  fortified,  were 
not.  Everywhere  the  bitterness  of  public  opinion  was  displayed.  Batteries  of 
six-pounders  had  only  balls  for  eight-pounders.  Your  Majesty's  brother  had 
quitted  Paris  and  left  no  orders.  1  think  he  wanted  to  force  Your  Majesty  to 
make  peace."  Napoleon  reluctantly  turned  back  to  Fontainebleau  from  the 
Cour-de-France.  He  reached  it  March  31,  1814,  at  nearly  midnight.  On  April 
4  he  signed  an  abdication  in  favor  of  his  son.  His  abdication  in  this  form  was 
not  accepted  by  the  Allies  in  Paris,  and  ten  days  later  he  signed  another, 
renouncing  for  himself  and  his  heirs  the  thrones  of  France  and  Italy.— .£.  W.  L, 


CHAPTER  X. 
ELBA  AND   THE   RETURN   FROM   ELBA. 
Elba. — Napoleon's  Return  from  Elba. 


Elba. 


"I  was  very  well  off  at  Elba.  I  thought  of  collecting 
around  me  the  artists  of  Italy.  I  was  more  independent 
there  than  any  prince  in  Germany.  I  could  have  held  out 
eight  months  in  the  fortress.  I  should  have  stayed  in 
Elba  if  Louis  XVIIL  had  had  good  ministers,  but  they 
feared  me  so  little  that  they  did  not  even  send  a  charge 
d'affaires  to  keep  a  watch  upon  me.  I  was  insulted  in 
all  their  newspapers  !  Ma  foi!  I  am  a  man,  and  being  a 
man,  I  felt  that  I  should  like  to  show  them  that  I  was 
alive.  France  ought  to  have  sent  a  cruiser  and  two 
frigates  to  keep  guard  over  the  island;  one  always  in  port, 
the  other  with  her  sails  set  in  the  offing.  I  had  besides, 
while  in  Elba  a  princely  household. 

"When  I  left  Fontainebleau  for  Elba  I  had  no  great 
expectation  of  ever  coming  back  to  France.  My  first 
hope  came  when  I  saw  in  the  gazettes  that  at  the  banquet 
at  the  Hôtel-de- Ville  there  were  the  wives  of  the  nobility 
only,  and  none  of  those  of  the  officers  of  the  army.  I 
thought  then  that  the  Bourbons  could  never  sustain  them- 
selves, and  afterwards  my  opinion  on  that  subject  increased. 
Louis  XVIIL  should  have  made  himself  the  first  sovereign 
of  a  fifth  dynasty,  and  instead  of  outraging  me  by  pam- 
phlets, he  should  have  spoken  of  me  sensibly;  above  all,  he 
ought  to  have  paid  me  my  pension.  In  his  place  I  would 
have  conciliated  Corsica.  In  that  way  I  should  have 
gained  friends,  instead  of  which  by  insulting  me  he  only 

167 


i68     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

made  me  partisaris.  He  might  have  said:  'I  have  taken 
Napoleon's  place  because  he  wanted  to  accomplish  too 
much!'  And  that  would  have  been  true,  for  I  attempted 
too  many  things.  In  his  place  I  should  have  sent  an  agent 
to  Elba  and  have  stationed  a  frigate  at  Porto  Ferrajo." 

The  Emperor  said  that  what  also  induced  him  to 
return  to  France  was  that  people  said  he  had  shunned 
death,  and  was  a  coward.  That  was  more  than  he  could 
bear.  Fontainebleau  is  a  sad  page  in  French  history;  but 
by  the  boldness  and  audacity  of  his  return  to  France  he 
gave  the  lie  to  men  who  wrote  pamphlets  against  him. 

Gourgaud  says  that  for  five  or  six  days  before  the  date  fixed 
for  the  expedition  in  the  latter  part  of  February,  1815,  prepara- 
tions had  been  making  in  Elba  to  carry  out  the  project  of  the 
Emperor's  invasion,  when  Bertrand  informed  the  Emperor  that 
an  English  brig  of  war  was  in  sight.  The  Emperor  was  much 
disturbed,  and  cried:  "How  is  that?  How  is  that?"  He  then  took 
his  glass,  and  at  once  gave  orders  to  his  own  brig  to  set  sail  and 
go  toward  Naples.  But  this  was  done  so  slowly  that  the  English 
corvette  entered  the  port  before  the  French  brig  was  ready  to  put 
to  sea. 

The  English  captain  went  at  once  to  see  Bertrand;  a  kind  of 
English  consul  in  the  place  had  told  him  that  for  two  days  the 
French  brig  had  been  taking  in  water  and  provisions,  and  that 
everybody  in  the  town  was  saying  that  the  Emperor  was  about  to 
leave,  and  take  his  Guard  with  him.  The  English  captain  spoke 
of  these  rumors.  Bertrand  answered  unmoved  that  at  Porto 
Ferrajo  as  well  as  at  Leghorn,  there  were  always  absurd  reports  in 
circulation;  it  was  only  fools  who  paid  any  attention  to  them; 
and  he  asked  the  English  captain  to  dinner.  But  the  English 
officer,  not  reassured,  declined  the  invitation,  and  put  to  sea  at 
once  to  follow  the  brig,  which  had  now  set  sail.  He  even  went  so 
far  as  to  leave  a  note  addressed  to  the  English  agent,  Sir  Neil 
Campbell,  then  absent,  to  tell  him  what  might  be  going  on,  and 
then  followed  the  brig.  When  at  length  he  had  assured  himself 
that  she  was  really  bound  for  Naples,  he  went  to  Leghorn  to  pick 
up  Campbell,  who  had  been  there  for  some  days  enjoying  gayeties 
and  balls.  As  soon  as  he  headed  in  that  direction,  Napoleon  sent 
a  boat  after  the  brig  to  tell  it  to  return  to  Porto  Ferrajo.  It 
re-entered  the  port  in  the  evening.  The  next  day,  February  26, 
was  Sunday.    Bertrand  sent  to  Drouot  to  know  if  the  wind  was 


ELBA  AND   THE  RETURN  FROM  ELBA      169 

fair,  and  then  went  to  the  Emperor  to  inform  him  that  the  wind 
was  favorable.  His  Majesty  had  mass  said  an  hour  earher  than 
usual;  afterwards  orders  were  dictated,  and  the  soldiers  with  their 
baggage  embarked — all  this  before  half-past  nine  in  the  evening. 
At  ten  they  weighed  anchor.  The  next  day  they  sighted  the  Eng- 
lish brig  returning  from  Leghorn.  They  thought  at  first  that  her 
officers  suspected  the  expedition.  This  caused  some  alarm.  But 
no — the  English  brig  held  in  her  course  for  Porto  Ferrajo.  In 
the  distance  they  saw  a  frigate.  On  the  28th  they  passed  a  French 
ship  from  Toulon.  They  then  felt  they  were  nearing  France,  and 
there  was  general  joy. 

Madame  7nt:re  and  Madame  Bertrand  had  stayed  on  the  island 
of  Elba.  On  the  27th,  when  the  English  corvette  returned  to  port, 
they  agreed  as  to  what  they  had  better  say.  The  corvette  came 
close  in  shore;  Campbell  got  into  a  boat  and  hastened  to  Madame 
Bertrand's,  saying  he  wished  to  see  her  husband. 

"He  is  gone,"  she  said. 

"Then  I  will  go  to  the  governor." 

"He  has  been  changed!" 

"What!  not  General  Drouot.'" 

"No,  he  is  gone,  too.     The  governor  is  General  Lapie." 

Then  Campbell  cried:  "Your  husband  has  been  arrested;  the 
Emperor,  too!" 

She  answered,  anxiously:  "Where?" 

"On  the  way  to  Naples." 

After  that  she  was  reassured. 

He  then  asked  to  see  the  new  governor,  but  fearing  that  he 
might  be  put  under  arrest,  he  stipulated  for  his  safety.  He  lost 
his  head,  in  fact. 

Dr.  Monaco  went  and  saw  Lapie  on  this  subject,  and  Camp- 
bell, when  reassured,  held  a  conversation  with  him  and  then 
returned  to  his  corvette.  There  had  been  some  talk  of  trying  to 
capture  her,  but  it  would  have  been  making  war  on  England.  The 
French  brig  reached  France  on  March  I  at  five  o'clock;  the 
troops  were  disembarked;  they  bivouacked  till  eleven  o'clock, 
and  then  began  their  march  to  Grenoble. — E.  IV.  L. 

Napoleon's  Return  from  Elba. 

St.  Helena,  February  21,  18 16.  "A  year  ago  I  had 
the  brig  at  Elba  repainted  for  our  return.  The  captain 
of  the  'Zephyr'  has  written  to  me  since,  to  say  that  he 
was  partly  aware  of  the  expedition,  and  that  he  was  quite 


170     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

sure  of  it  when  he  fell  in  with  our  little  party.  We  were 
barely  five  hundred  on  board  the  brig;  as  soon  as  we  dis- 
embarked we  established  our  bivouac  at  a  place  which 
commanded  the  high  road  from  Antibes  to  Grasse.^  I 
had  at  once  sent  a  detachment  to  Antibes,  but  the  result 
was  bad.  We  were  hardly  encamped  when  Milowski 
came  up,  in  the  red  livery  of  a  postilion.  He  had  for- 
merly been  in  the  service  of  the  Empress  Josephine,  and  he 
was  then  in  that  of  the  Prince  of  Monaco.  He  told  us 
that  in  several  places  they  had  insulted  him  because  of  his 
red  coat,^  and  he  assured  us  that  all  the  soldiers  and  all 
the  peasants  were  my  friends. 

"Very  soon  after  this  the  Prince  himself  was  brought 
to  me.  He  affirmed  that  he  was  on  his  way  back  to  his 
principality.  He  was  not  asked  any  direct  questions,  lest 
his  answers  should  discourage  the  troops,  who  were 
already  a  good  deal  cast  down  by  the  expedition  to 
Antibes.  A  good  many  soldiers  and  officers  asked  leave 
to  go  to  Antibes  and  deliver  their  comrades;^  but  on 
reflection  I  decided  to  march  promtly  on  Grenoble,  and  I 
said  to  them:  *If  one-half  of  you  were  prisoners  at 
Antibes,  I  would  not  change  my  plan.'  I  went  on  to 
Grasse.  Instead  of  stopping  in  that  town  we  bivouacked 
on  a  neighboring  hill.  A  great  number  of  the  inhabitants 
came  out  to  talk  with  our  soldiers.  The  maire,  in  his 
official  dress,  said  he  would  not  declare  for  me  until  after 
I  should  have  reached  Grenoble,  but  he  told  me  that  his 
country  house  was  made  ready  for  my  headquarters. 
When  I  arrived  at  this  house  on  the  road  to  Grenoble,  I 
found  that  the  maire' s  servant  had  gone  on  before  to 
spread  the  news  of  my  landing.  We  sadly  needed  a 
printing-press,  for  things  printed  have  more  influence  on 
the  peasantry  than  proclamations  written  by  hand.     We 

'  Napoleon  several  times  related  this  narrative. 

'The  royal  livery. 

'They  had  been  repulsed  and  were  prisoners. 


ELBA  AND   THE  RETURN  FROM  ELBA      171 

fell  in  with  a  battalion  of  the  Fifth  Regiment  of  the  Line; 
some  of  us  thought  they  had  a  cannon  with  them.  I  went 
forward  and  held  out  my  hand  to  a  soldier,  saying,  'What, 
you  old  rascal,  were  you  about  to  fire  on  your  Emperor?' 

"  'Look  here,'  he  answered,  showing  me  that  his 
musket  was  not  loaded. 

"The  country  people  crowded  round  me.  A  grenadier 
of  the  Guard  brought  his  father  up  to  me,  a  man  ninety 
years  of  age.  I  threw  him  a  purse  and  had  his  name 
taken  down  for  a  pension.  What  a  splendid  subject  that 
would  make  for  a  picture! 

"We  reached  Grenoble,  and  we  asked  its  magistrates 
about  their  oaths.  'We  have  taken  no  oaths,'  they 
answered." 

"When  I  left  Elba  I  ought  to  have  brought  away  with 
me  a  portable  printing-press.'  One  hundred  copies  of  my 
proclamation  were  made  by  hand,  but  such  written  docu- 
ments do  not  produce  so  much  effect  upon  the  public  as 
those  that  are  printed.  Printing  seems  to  act  as  the  seal 
of  authority. 

"It  was  four  o'clock  when  I  reached  the  Gulf  of  Jouan. 
I  at  once  disembarked  parties  of  my  troops  and  placed 
them  on  the  highways  to  arrest  every  one  they  met,  and  I 
sent  twenty-five  men  in  small  parties  toward  Antibes. 
Very  soon  a  great  crowd  of  people  came  around  us,  sur- 
prised by  our  appearance,  and  astonished  at  our  small 
force.  Among  them  was  a  maire,  who  seeing  how  few 
we  were,  said  to  me:  'We  were  just  beginning  to  be 
quiet  and  happy;  now  you  are  going  to  stir  us  all  up 
again.'   .... 

"A  courier  from  the  Prince  of  Monaco,^  covered  with 

'  When  Prince  Louis  Napoleon  made  his  attempt  to  win  the  throne  of 
France  at  Strasburp  (October,  1836),  his  first  act  on  reaching  Strasburg  was  to 
seize  a  printing-press.  When  he  made  his  attempt  at  Boulogne  (August,  1840) 
he  brought  a  chest  full  of  printed  proclamations  from  England.— £.  W.  L. 

'Monaco,  a  tiny  principality  on  the  Mediterranean,  at  the  foot  of  the 
Alps,  a  few  miles  from  Nice.    Its  population  is  about  six  thousand. 


172     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

gold  lace,  was  soon  after  brought  to  me.  He  had  been  in 
Paris  formerly,  employed  in  the  stables  of  the  Empress. 
He  recognized  me.  I  asked  him:  'What  news?'  He 
answered  that  the  soldiers  and  the  populace  were  all  for 
me,  and  that  from  Paris  to  Montélimart  he  had  heard 
cries  of  ''Vive  V EinpereurT  But,  on  the  other  hand, 
Provence  was  not  so  favorable.  The  tidings  he  brought 
us  seemed  to  counterbalance  the  vexation  caused  by  the 
miscarriage  of  the  attempt  at  Antibes.  Soon  after  arrived 
the  Prince  of  Monaco  himself.  He  had  been  somewhat 
roughly  treated  by  Cambronne,  who  was  guarding  the 
road.  I  reassured  him,  and  told  him  he  could  return  to  his 
principality  after  my  departure.  He  told  me  that  he 
doubted  if  my  enterprise  could  succeed,  considering  the 
very  small  force  I  had  with  me.  His  talk  was  the  talk  of 
the  salons;  his  courier's  that  of  the  people. 

"As  soon  as  the  moon  rose,  I  set  out,  impressed  with 
the  importance  of  moving  with  celerity.  When  I  was 
leaving,  I  heard  murmurs  in  my  very  presence,  because  I 
was  not  marching  on  Antibes,  to  secure  the  liberation  of 
my  twenty-five  men  who  had  been  taken  there.  A  few 
bombs,  they  declared,  would  have  been  enough  for  that 
purpose.  But  I  calculated  it  would  take  me  two  hours 
to  reach  Antibes,  two  hours  to  march  back,  and  at  least 
three  or  four  when  before  the  place,  so  that  it 
would  have  been  the  loss  of  half  a  day.  If  I  succeeded 
it  would  be  a  matter  of  small  importance;  if  I  failed, 
which  was  possible,  such  a  check  at  the  outset  would  give 
confidence  to  my  enemies,  and  afford  them  time  to  organ- 
ize themselves,  etc.  My  plan  was  to  reach  Grenoble,  the 
centre  of  the  province,  for  at  Grenoble  there  was  a  con- 
siderable garrison,  an  arsenal,  and  several  pieces  of  can- 
non; in  a  word,  munitions  of  war  of  all  kinds.  The 
success  of  my  enterprise  depended  on  my  speedily  taking 
possession  of  Grenoble,  and  securing  the  soldiers.  Above 
all  things  it  was  necessary  that  I  should  lose  no  time.     I 


ELBA  AND   THE  RETURN  FROM  ELBA      173 

put  a  hundred  men  into  my  advanced  guard,  commanded 
by  Cambronne,  and  when  I  reached  the  place  where  the 
roads  to  Avignon  and  Grasse  separate,  I  gave  the  word: 
*To  the  right!'  Then  for  the  first  time  I  told  those 
about  me  that  it  was  my  intention  to  march  on  Grenoble. 
"I  would  not  enter  Grasse,  a  place  that  has  a  popula- 
tion of  ten  thousand.  I  proposed  to  halt  on  a  little  hill 
beyond,  and  to  let  my  soldiers  breakfast.  A  few  old 
Terrorists  advised  me  to  revolutionize  Grasse.  I  ordered 
them  to  attempt  nothing  of  the  kind,  not  even  to  molest 
those  who  wore  the  white  cockade.  I  told  them  that  I 
would  not  delay  my  march  for  fifty  millions  of  francs. 
....  Des  Michels  (the  viairé)  and  his  wife  came  to 
meet  us.  I  left  at  Grasse  two  cannon  and  my  carriage, 
giving  the  maire  orders  to  send  them  to  the  arsenal  at 
Antibes.  I  also  left  at  Grasse  fifteen  hundred  muskets 
which  I  had  brought  with  me,  and  had  found  no  use  for. 
Everywhere  our  appearance  created  great  surprise.  At 
Gap  my  bivouac  was  surrounded  by  a  great  crowd.  I 
spoke  a  few  words  to  each  man,  just  as  I  would  have  done 
in  a  reception  at  the  Tuileries.  The  peasantry  were 
delighted  to  see  us,  and  said, — speaking  of  the  nobles, — 
'They  would  have  liked  to  harness  us  to  our  ploughs!' 
Old  soldiers  came,  at  the  head  of  the  inhabitants  of  their 
villages,  assuring  their  fellow-citizens  that  I  was  really 
Bonaparte.  Some  of  the  peasants  took  five-franc  pieces 
stamped  with  my  likeness  out  of  their  pockets,  and  cried, 
'It  is  he!'  Everything  seemed  to  assure  us  that  the  popu- 
lace and  the  soldiers  were  for  us,  and  that  the  Bourbons 
were  detested.  So  far  we  had  met  no  soldiers.  We 
found  Sisteron  evacuated;  the  commander  of  its  garrison 
had  withdrawn,  taking  with  him  aU  his  soldiers.  Garan, 
a  native  of  that  part  of  the  country,  was  in  hiding.  Our 
imaginations  prophesied  disaster,  but  all  of  us,  to  the  last 
man,  were  determined  to  die  for  our  cause,  which  was 
that  of  the  French  nation.     We  marched  on  as  rapidly  as 


174     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

possible,  the  advanced  guard  twenty-four  miles  (eight 
leagues)  in  front,  the  army  came  next,  and  the  rear 
guard  six  miles  behind,  with  the  treasure.  We  met  some 
gendarmes  who  sold  us  their  horses,  which  we  needed  as 
remounts  for  our  hundred  lancers. 

"Near  a  small  town  we  met  Cambronne,  who  informed 
me  that  he  had  been  obliged  to  retire,  having  encountered 
a  battalion  of  the  Fifth  Regiment.  I  reproached  him,  and 
told  him  he  ought  to  have  made  his  way  into  the  town, 
and  have  confronted  boldness  by  being  still  more  bold. 

"The  peasants  were  always  insisting  that  the  King's 
soldiers  would  take  part  with  us,  and  yet  that  battalion  of 
the  Fifth  was  drawn  up,  to  all  appearance,  to  oppose  us, 
and  would  not  let  any  flag  of  truce  approach  its  line.  I 
made  Cambronne  pass  round  the  cavalry  whilst  I  marched 
straight  on  with  the  advanced  guard  ;  we  carried  our  mus- 
kets under  our  arms.  In  that  way  I  gained  over  the  troop 
first  opposed  to  me;  but  it  did  not  seem  so  great  a  gain 
until  we  heard  that  before  we  approached,  its  commander 
had  tried  to  get  his  men  to  fire  on  us;  but  they  had  not 
loaded  their  muskets. 

"I  harangued  the  men,  and  asked  their  commander  if 
he  meant  to  remain  faithful  to  me.  He  rephed  that,  so 
far,  he  had  tried  to  do  what  he  believed  to  be  his  duty, 
but  thenceforward  he  would  follow  me  anywhere.  He 
swore  to  be  faithful  to  me,  and  so  did  his  men.  I  joined 
them,  and  marched  on  with  them. 

"An  aide-de-camp  of  Marchand's  wanted  to  begin  the 
fight.  Certain  of  our  lancers,  he  said,  had  pursued  him. 
As  he  fled  he  spread  a  report  that  I  had  an  army  with  me, 
and  a  large  body  of  cavalry.  I  confused  several  old  sol- 
diers by  saying  to  them,  'What!  would  you  have  fired  on 
your  Emperor?'  They  thrust  their  ramrods  down  the 
barrels  of  their  muskets,  and  cried,  'See  whether  we  have 
so  much  as  loaded  our  pieces!' 

"A  little  farther  on  we  met  Rey  in  command  of  a 


Al.  I  RSI /.IL   NE  Y 


ELBA  AND   THE  RETURN  FROM  ELBA      175 

battalion  of  artillery.  He  entirejy  reassured  us.  He  was 
very  ardent.  He  insisted  we  should  need  only  whips  to 
drive  off  all  who  might  march  out  to  oppose  us,  and  that 
the  garrison  at  Grenoble  was  in  sympathy  with  our  enter- 
prise. We  were  preceded  and  followed  by  thousands 
of  peasants,  who  seemed  delighted  to  see  us,  and  sang: — 
''Les  Bourbons  ?ie  font  pas  le  bonheur!  '  Farther  on 
Labédoyère's  adjutant  came  to  meet  us,  and  after  that 
the  Seventh  Regiment  of  the  Line  joined  us.  Then  I 
had  no  further  doubts  of  our  success. 

"When  we  reached  Grenoble  it  was  ten  o'clock  at 
night.  We  found  the  gates  closed,  but  the  ramparts  were 
crowded  with  soldiers,  all  shouting  'Vwe  V Empereur!' 
Nevertheless  they  refused  to  open  the  gates,  assuring  us 
that  they  did  so  by  orders  from  Marchand,  their  general. 
I  caused  our  drums  to  beat,  and  assured  them  that  from 
that  moment  General  Marchand  was  relieved  from  his 
command.  Then  they  said,  'If  he  is  no  longer  in  author- 
ity, we  can  disobey  him,*  and  the  gates  were  opened.  I 
asked  the  colonel  who  defended  the  great  gate,  why  he 
had  not  opened  sooner.  He  replied  that  he  had  pledged 
his  word  of  honor  to  Marchand  that  he  would  give  him 
time  to  get  out  of  the  town,  with  as  many  of  his  men  as 
chose  to  follow  him. 

"On  my  march  from  Cannes  to  Grenoble  I  was  an 
adventurer;  in  Grenoble  I  once  more  became  a 
sovereign. 

"I  received  Saint-Yon,  an  aide-de-camp  from  Brayer, 
who  informed  me  as  to  the  state  of  affairs  in  Lyons,  and 
told  me  that  the  princes  had  been  living  in  that  city. 
While  I  was  on  the  march  the  country  people  flocked  on 
all  sides  to  meet  me.  They  offered  to  put  me  and  all  my 
men  across  the  Rhone,  at  any  point  I  chose.  I  was  about 
to  take  measures  to  cut  off  the  retreat  of  the  princes, 
when  I  learned  that  they  had  left  Lyons,  and  that  all  the 
troops  in  that  city  had  declared  for  me.     If  I  had  cap- 


176     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

tured  the  princes,  I  should  have  been  greatly  perplexed 
what  to  do  with  them.  They  had  been  in  authority  up  to 
a  few  moments  before.  The  situation  would  have  been 
worse  than  if  a  popular  insurrection  had  sent  them  to  the 
scaffold. 

"When  Louis  XVIII.  heard  of  my  landing,  Soult 
went  to  the  Tuileries,  and  told  him  that  it  could  only  be  a 
small  affair,  which  would  be  settled  by  the  mounted  police 
— the  gendarmerie;  but  the  King  answered:  'Everything 
will  depend  on  the  first  regiments  he  meets.  It  is  a  bad 
affair.  '  The  Duke  of  Dalmatia  *  subsequently  owned  to 
me  that  he  thought  my  attempt  would  have  resulted  in  fail- 
ure. Soult  did  not  betray  the  King,  but  there  were  so 
many  facts  that  seemed  like  circumstantial  evidence 
against  him  that  if  I  had  not  known  exactly  what  passed, 
I  should  not  have  hesitated  to  call  him  a  traitor. 

"Girard  and  Brayer  were  sent  to  Lyons.  Brayer  was 
a  vigorous  man.  On  our  way  to  Paris,  when  reports 
were  constantly  coming  in  that  an  army  had  been  assem- 
bled, and  that  fighting  had  begun,  he  kept  saying  to  me: 
'Let  them  talk  as  they  may;  you  will  have  no  fighting; 
all  the  soldiers  are  for  you.*  The  enthusiasm  of  the 
peasants  was  so  great  that  had  I  pleased,  I  could  have 
reached  the  capital  with  five  hundred  thousand  men." 

"What  would  Your  Majesty  have  done  with  the  princes 
had  you  captured  them?"  ^  asked  Gourgaud. 

Napoleon  answered:  "If  they  had  been  all  killed  in  a 
popular  rising  I  should  have  thought  it  the  best  thing  that 
could  have  happened;  otherwise  I  would  have  imprisoned 
them  at  Vincennes  with  a  garrison  composed  of  men  hke 
those  who,  when  at  one  time  they  had  the  Due  d'Angou- 

'  Duke  of  Dalmatia  was  Soult's  title.  Soult  made  his  peace  with  the 
Bourbons,  and  died  in  1851,  having  been  Minister  of  War  and  of  Foreign  Affairs 
under  Louis  Philippe.  He  was  much  honored  in  England  when  he  attended 
the  coronation  of  Queen  Victoria. 

'Gourgaud  had  been  the  playmate  of  the  Due  de  Berry,  and  was  person- 
ally attached  to  hiro  —£.  W.  L. 


ELBA  AND   THE  RETURN  FROM  ELBA      177 

lême  in  custody,  wanted  to  put  handcufifs  on  him.     After 
that,  if  there  had  been  a  conspiracy  in  their  favor — " 

"Blood  demands  blood;  but  they  had  done  nothing 
worse  than  foolishness  up  to  18 14.  To  reorganize  the 
army  as  it  had  been  under  me  was  simply  to  get  it  ready 
for  my  service.  When  I  got  back,  I  had  merely  to 
review  the  regiments  that  had  been  sent  against  mc,  I 
asked  if  there  were  any  men  in  their  ranks  who  had  no 
business  to  be  there,  and  then  I  confirmed  the  reception 
of  all  crosses  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  that  had  been  given 
them  on  the  recommendation  of  their  colonels.  I  soon 
saw  that  everything  had  been  organized  exactly  as  I  would 
have  done  it  myself.  Young  Moncey,  who  commanded 
the  Third  Regiment  of  the  Line,  told  me  that  he  could 
not  break  his  oath  to  the  King,  but  that  he  would  never 
fight  against  his  Emperor.  He  led  his  regiment  off  the 
roads  along  which  I  was  likely  to  pass,  in  order  to  avoid 
meeting  me.  Several  officers  and  soldiers  of  his  corps 
deserted  and  joined  me.  I  could  not  blame  them  for  their 
breach  of  discipline,  any  more  than  I  could  blame  the  con- 
duct of  their  commander.  Circumstances  had  altered  the 
strict  rules  of  subordination  in  the  lower  ranks  of  the 
army;  I  did  not  fear  that  that  would  happen  a  second 
time  when  I  placed  in  my  own  Guard  men  who  had 
deserted  their  colonels. 

"Ney  quitted  Paris  intending  to  fight  me,  but  he  could 
not  resist  the  enthusiastic  ardor  of  his  soldiers,  nor  what 
I  said  in  the  letter  I  addressed  to  him.  On  our  march 
Bertrand  wrote  orders  to  all  the  regiments  which  were 
dispatched  to  stop  me,  and  these  orders  the  soldiers 
obeyed.  I  calculated,  upon  reaching  the  Tuileries  on 
March  20,  on  being  master  of  the  capital  before  the  Eng- 
lish could  do  anything,  and  I  did  not  lose  a  moment  from 
the  time  I  disembarked  until  I  reached  Paris.  In  twenty 
days  I  made  a  march  which  in  general  would  have  taken 


17^     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

forty I   thought   that   the   English  would   have 

entered  Lille I  would  have  fired  on  you,  Gour- 

gaud/  had  you  and  the  Royalists  defended  Paris,  as  I 
would  have  fired  upon  the  Austrians." 

"In  returning  from  Elba  I  calculated  on  the  feehngs 
of  the  people  and  the  army.  Besides,  my  situation  was 
so  bad  that  I  risked  nothing  but  my  life.  If  instead  of 
marching  on  Grenoble  I  had  wasted  time  by  sending  can- 
non-balls into  Antibes  and  getting  back  my  twenty-five 
men  who  had  been  captured  there,  all  would  have  been 
lost.  All  depended  on  my  celerity.  I  dared  not  let  the 
news  from  Antibes  reach  Paris  before  me.  By  marching 
rapidly  I  gave  people  no  chance  to  see  how  small  my  little 
force  was.  I  was  supposed  to  be  at  the  head  of  an  army. 
I  could  not  have  succeeded  had  I  attacked  Toulon,  because 
they  would  at  once  have  known  how  small  my  strength 
was,  and  no  one  likes  to  embark  in  dangerous  adven- 
tures. That  is  why  I  hurried  on  to  Grenoble.  There  were 
troops  there,  muskets,  and  cannon;  it  was  a  centre." 

"I  left  the  Island  of  Elba  too  soon;  I  thought  the 
Congress  had  been  dissolved.  I  ought  not  to  have  reas- 
sembled the  Chambers.  I  should  have  had  myself  pro- 
claimed Dictator.  But  I  thought  that  the  Allies,  if  they 
found  I  had  convoked  the  Chambers,  would  have  recov- 
ered confidence  in  me.  If  I  had  won  the  battle  of  Water- 
loo I  should  have  thrown  over  the  Chambers!  ....  But 
all  that  puts  me  in  a  bad  humor.  Let  us  go  into  the 
sa/on." 

"When  I  returned  from  Elba  I  had  a  thousand  men 
with  me,  all  of  different  regiments.  If  I  had  acted  like 
Murat  twenty-five  gendarmes  would  have  been  enough  to 
stop  me.     What  might  not  have  happened  had  I  been  run 

>  In  March,  1815,  Gourgaud  was  with  the  Due  de  Berry  and  other  Royal- 
ists, preparing  to  defend  Paris  against  Napoleon.—^.  W.  L. 


ELBA   AND   THE  RETURN  FROM  ELBA      179 

to  earth  at  Toulon?  Massena  himself  told  me  that  he 
did  not  know  what  would  have  taken  place.  He  ma- 
noeuvred so  as  to  stand  well  with  whoever  was  the  con- 
queror. Marchand  behaved  well,  but  I  did  not  like  to 
give  him  an  employment,  out  of  policy;  Labédoyère  did 
not  act  like  a  man  of  honor,  so  I  hesitated  to  make  him 
my  aide-de-camp.  Hortense  worried  me  to  do  so.  Ney 
brought  dishonor  on  himself." 

Napoleon  told  us  that  Ney  '  was  in  reality  murdered, 
but  that  he  behaved  badly.  He  said  to  the  Emperor: 
"Your  Majesty  no  doubt  has  heard  that  I  promised  to 
bring  you  back  to  Paris  in  a  cage  of  iron?" 

"I  never  believed  it!" 

"Yet,  Sire,  it  was  true!" 

"Ney' s  brother-in-law,  Gamot,^  was  neither  one  thing 
nor  the  other.  I  ought  not  to  have  employed  Ney  again. 
Many  men  said  I  ought  not  even  to  have  summoned  him 
to  the  Chamber  of  Peers. 

"Far  different  was  the  conduct  of  Labédoyère;  all  was 
danger  for  him,  and  he  acted  in  a  chivalrous  manner; 
whilst  it  was  not  in  Ney' s  power  to  make  any  change  in 
my  affairs.  Ney  was  impelled  by  self-interest,  Labédoyère 
by  enthusiasm.  Ney  advised  me  to  write  to  Lecourbe,^ 
so  that  he  should  not  be  molested.  I  wrote  to  him  at 
once. 

"Suchet  sent  me  an  express,  and  so  did  Gérard  at 
Lyons.  The  instructions  of  Suchet  were,  that  he  must 
act  according  to  circumstances;  so,  seeing  the  enthusiasm 
of  the  people  of  Lyons,  the  agent  assured  me  that  I  might 
rely  on  the  Duke  of  Albufera  (Suchet).  But  Suchet 
never  put  forth  any  proclamation  like  Ney,  and  did  not, 

'Ney  was  protected  under  the  provisions  of  the  Treaty  of  Paris.— £.  W.L. 

'Gamot  was  Prefect  of  the  Department  of  the  Yonne,  in  March,  1815. 

'The  judge  who  refused  to  pronounce  Georges  Cadoudal  guilty  of  con- 
spiracy. 


I  So     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

like  him,  try  to  play  a  principal  part,  by  seeking  to  make 
it  believed  that  all  had  been  arranged  beforehand  between 
me  and  the  Marshals 

"In  preparing  for  my  return  from  Elba,  I  talked  the 
matter  over  with  Bertrand  and  Drouot.  They  advised  me 
to  try  to  secure  the  support  of  Massena  at  Toulon.  I 
objected.  I  said  we  ought  to  secure  some  principal  town 
before  doing  anything  else,  and  I  was  sure  with  my  five 
hundred  men  that  I  could  land  in  Provence,  and  march  on 
Grenoble.  Then  no  one  would  know  how  many  men  I 
had  with  me,  whilst  at  Toulon  they  would  have  known  at 
once  that  I  had  come  in  a  brig,  and  could  not  be  very 
formidable.  Besides  that,  Flahaut  had  sent  me  word  that 
Labédoyère  in  the  salon  of  Queen  Hortense,  had  declared 
that  he  would  always  take  part  with  me.  That  was  why 
I  kept  on  asking  where  was  the  Seventh  Regiment  of  the 
Line.  The  affair  at  Antibes  caused  us  much  annoyance, 
but  I  wanted  as  soon  as  possible  to  reach  Grenoble.  I 
sent  Pons,  who  had  been  my  chief  director  of  mines  at 
Elba,  to  Massena.  I  heard  afterwards  that  Massena 
wept  for  joy  when  he  heard  of  my  return,  but  he  told 
my  emissary  that  the  feeling  in  Marseilles  was  so  bad 
that  he  could  not  come  out  strongly  for  me  at  once,  and 
what  was  more,  to  protect  Pons  from  the  fury  of  the 
populace,  he  was  about  to  have  him  arrested. 

"If  Massena  had  been  willing  to  act  he  might  have  gone 
to  Toulon,  where  the  feeling  was  in  my  favor,  and  then  he 
could  have  made  the  soldiers  declare  for  me,  which  would 
have  impeded  the  action  of  the  Due  d'Angoulême  in  the 
South;  but  although  he  was  attached  to  his  old  flag  under 
which  he  had  fought  for  more  than  twenty-five  years,  he 
would  do  nothing  rashly. 

"At  Grenoble  General  Marchand  sent  me  word  that, 
not  being  able  to  break  his  oaths,  he  was  going  to  his  own 
home  for  a  time.  He  ought,  if  he  had  held  the  right  cards, 
to  have  defended  Grenoble  with  his  division. 


ELBA   AND   THE  RETURN  FROM  ELBA      iSi 

"At  Grenoble  I  saw  also  an  officer  who  came  from 
Lyons.  I  asked  him  who  he  was.  He  said  he  was  the 
aide-de-camp  of  Boyer,  and  told  me  that  his  general  had 
sent  him  to  assure  me  that  he  was  for  mc,  so  was  all  the 
garrison  in  Lyons,  and  if  I  ordered  it,  he  would 
bring  me  the  princes  as  prisoners.  I  thought  he  was 
deceiving  me.  I  did  not  know  Boyer,  and  it  was  not 
until  I  was  near  Lyons  that  I  was  convinced  he  had  told 
me  the  truth.  Boyer  is  a  most  remarkable  man.  He 
deceived  the  Comte  d'Artois  up  to  the  last  moment,  pre- 
served his  confidence,  gave  him  any  quantity  of  advice, 
and  even  induced  people  to  follow  him.  All  along  the 
line  of  march  I  dined  with  this  general,  who  kept  on  say- 
ing to  me;  'Go  forward.  Never  fear.  I  know  the  sol- 
diers; they  are  all  for  you.'  When  I  heard  of  the  affair 
of  d'Erlon  *  he  cried:  'Go  on  all  the  same.  Those  people 
blundered.  But  that  is  of  no  consequence!'  I  never  saw 
a  man  stick  so  firmly  to  his  own  opinion!  I  ought  to 
have  made  him  commander  of  the  Guard  at  Paris,  instead 
of  that  sluggard  Durosnel. 

"Labédoyère  at  Grenoble,  when  he  took  command  of 
the  division,  showed  much  courage.  He  is  a  member  of 
one  of  the  first  families  in  Dauphiné — but  the  opinion 
of  men!  the  opinion  of  men!  ^ 

"What  hindered  the  Comte  d'Artois  from  coming  to 
oppose  me  was  that  I  had  three  regiments  of  infantry  with 
me,  many  cannon,  and  two  regiments  of  cavalry,  while  he 
had  only  a  few  foot  soldiers,  the  Thirteenth  Dragoons, 
and  no  artillery.  Boyer  had  established  a  sort  of  tcte-de- 
pont  at  Lyons;  Monsieur  Roger  de  Damas,  who  was  an 
eagle  among  the  voltigeurs,  thought  it  superb,  but  Boyer 
laughed  about  it." 

'  Drouet  d"  Erlon,  a  distinguished  French  officer.  He  plotted  to  capture 
the  French  princes  in  the  south  of  France  (1815),  but  the  plot  miscarried.  For 
this  conspiracy  he  was  tried  after  the  Restoration,  but  acquitted.— £■.  W.  L. 

'Gourgaud  had  a  poor  opinion  of  Labédoyère,  and  lost  no  opportunity  of 
expressing  it.    These  words  were  probably  addressed  to  him.— £.  W.  L. 


CHAPTER  XL 

WATERLOO. 

Before  Waterloo. — The  Battle  of  Waterloo. 
After  Waterloo. 


Before  Waterloo. 

Montholon  (1817)  seems  to  think  that  if  the  Emperor 
now  disembarked  in  France  he  would  be  better  received 
than  in  1815. 

"No,  no!  Besides  the  opposition  of  foreign  powers 
the  army  is  not  what  it  was  then.  The  King's  Guard 
would  not  be  for  me.  To  succeed  I  should  have  to  bring 
with  me  an  army  of  twenty-five  thousand  or  thirty  thou- 
sand men,  just  at  the  beginning;  and  should  have  to  give 
the  discontented  element  in  France  time  to  join  me,  and 
to  get  famihar  with  war.  It  would  be  absolutely  neces- 
sary, besides,  that  the  AlHes  should  not  disapprove  of  my 
return.  Then  things  would  be  very  different;  otherwise 
I  should  commit  the  same  folly  as  Murat  did,  who  with 
thirty  Corsicans  expected  to  reconquer  a  kingdom  which 
he  could  not  keep  with  sixty  thousand  soldiers.  One  can 
hardly  account  for  such  folly  as  Joachim  committed  in 
descending  on  Calabria  with  thirty  Corsicans.  Calabria! 
where  Corsicans  had  formerly  committed  such  horrors! 
If  I  had  had  none  but  Corsicans  with  me  when  I  returned 
to  France  from  Elba,  I  certainly  should  not  have  suc- 
ceeded. It  was  the  bearskin  helmets  of  my  Guards 
which  did  the  business.  They  called  to  remembrance  my 
glorious  days." 

"As  soon  as  Murat  heard  of  my  return  to  France,  he, 
with  his  Neapolitan  army,  attacked  Austria  in  Northern 

182 


WATERLOO  183 

Italy.  It  was  this  ill-starred  attack  on  Austria  that  ruined 
me.  It  was  made  just  as  that  power  was  disposed  to 
treat  with  me.  It  was  naturally  supposed  that  Murat 
was  acting  by  my  orders,  and  consequently  Austria  would 
not  hear  of  any  reconciliation  with  me.  She  thought  my 
return  was  the  beginning  of  a  new  system  of  conquests." 

"It  was  pure  folly  on  Murat's  part  to  think  that  with 
his  army  he  could  fight  Austria  and  recover  Austrian  Italy. 
It  is  true  that  he  had  such  an  opinion  of  me,  that  as  soon 
as  he  heard  of  my  arrival  in  France,  he  thought  I  was 
about  to  be  as  powerful  as  I  had  ever  been.  He  feared 
that  I  might  drive  him  out  of  his  kingdom.'  He  wanted, 
without  loss  of  time,  to  possess  himself  of  all  Italy  as  far 
as  the  Po.  I  sent  Colonna  to  him  from  Elba,  to  advise 
him  not  to  act  against  Austria,  and  Colonna  implored  him 
on  his  knees  to  do  as  I  advised  him.  But  he  wanted  to 
be  master  of  the  Peninsula,  and  he  hastened  to  act. 
....  He  ruined  me  twice.  His  death  was  murder,  for 
he  had  been  really  a  king,  recognized  as  such  by  all  the 
Powers." 

"I  should  probably  have  done  better  on  my  return  to 
Paris  not  to  summon  the  Chambers,  or  if  I  did  so  I  ought 
to  have  nominated  all  the  deputies  myself.  I  ought  to 
have  made  Talbot  prefect,  to  have  had  good  maires,  to 
have  kept  only  four  thousand  men  in  the  National  Guard 
of  Paris;  and  have  given  them  officers  who  had  served  in 
the  Line.  It  does  not  take  thirty  thousand  men  to  keep 
order  and  act  as  police  in  the  capital.  The  question  is, 
whether  I  should  not  have  done  better  to  concentrate  all 
my  troops  under  the  walls  of  Paris,  instead  of  marching 
to  meet  the  enemy.     Perhaps  then  the  Allies  might  not 

'  Murat  had  joined  the  allies  against  Napoleon  after  the  campaign  in 
Russia,  and  was  permitted  by  the  Powers  to  retain  his  kingdom  of  Naples.  In 
1815  he  attacked  the  Austrian  possessions  in  Central  Italy,  was  defeated  and 
dethroned.  A  year  later,  with  thirty  Corsicans  and  a  few  others,  he  landed  on 
the  shores  of  Calabria  to  recover  his  kingdom.  He  was  taken  and  shot  on  the 
sea  beach  after  Napoleon  arrived  at  St.  Helena.— .fî.  W.  L. 


iS4      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

have  made  war  on  me.     You  may  observe  that  all  their 
proclamations  are  dated  after  Waterloo." 

"I  ought  not  to  have  made  Labédoyère  a  Peer  of 
France,  nor  even  to  have  taken  him  as  my  aide-de-camp. 
Excelmans — the  fool!  was  always  prating  to  me  about  a 
Constitution.  Yes — I  committed  an  error,  a  stupid  error, 
by  promulgating  one.  I  ought  only  to  have  formed  a 
Council  under  the  presidency  of  Carnot.  He  was  always 
honest  and  faithful.  I  ought  to  have  made  Montalivet 
head  of  the  Department  of  the  Interior.  The  men  of  the 
Revolution  had  lost  touch  with  the  men  of  the  time. 
They  were  all  used  up.  I  did  wrong  to  take  back  young 
Regnault  for  my  orderly  officer.  He  told  his  father  that 
my  cause  was  lost  ;  and  his  father  was  one  of  the  first 
who  deserted  me.  I  might  have  thrown  the  Deputies  into 
the  Seine,  and  so  have  dissolved  the  Chamber,  but  then  I 
should  have  had  to  reign  by  terror,  and  foreigners  might 
with  justice  have  declared  that  it  was  against  me,  and  me 
only,  that  they  made  war.  I  should  have  shed  rivers  of 
blood,  with  no  result.  I  might  perhaps,  while  I  remained 
at  Malmaison,  have  put  myself  at  the  head  of  the  troops 
as  Lieutenant-General  of  Napoleon  II.  The  army  had  no 
confidence  in  any  one  but  me.  Had  I  been  able  to  act 
alone  I  could  have  signed  a  capitulation,  but  when  I  saw 
that  the  Chambers,  instead  of  rallying  to  me,  were  con- 
spiring against  me,  I  knew  that  all  was  lost.  Besides 
that,  by  going  to  the  United  States  I  might  have  come 
back  again  in  a  few  months.  It  is  true  I  had  better  have 
given  myself  up  to  Austria,  rather  than  to  England.  But 
that  is  another  question.  This  subject  is  too  melancholy 
to  talk  about.     Let  us  go  to  bed." 

"I  was  very  wrong  to  have  employed  Ney.  Carnot 
did  not  want  me  even  to  make  him  a  peer.  He  acted  as 
if  he  thought  he  could  give  or  take  away  kingdoms.  He 
came  over  to  me  when  he  saw  that  his  troops  abandoned 
him.     He  would  have  acted  more  properly  had  he  gone 


WATERLOO  185 

back  to  Paris  and  told  the  King  that  his  men  had  deserted 
him.  He  might  have  written  to  me  like  Suchet,  who  told 
me  I  might  count  on  him,  but  that  he  would  not  openly 
declare  for  me  till  later.  Ney  behaved  then,  as  he  always 
had  done  in  civil  life,  like  a  scoundrel.  He  was  brave — 
that  was  all.  It  was  very  different  with  Labédoyère;  he 
decided  for  me  when  there  was  danger  in  doing  so.  He 
was  impelled  by  enthusiasm.  France  has  been  outraged, 
and  is  now  a  broken-spirited  nation.  She  has  only 
what  she  deserves.  Instead  of  rallying  to  me  she  aban- 
doned me." 

Napoleon  said  that  it  was  false  that  Bertrand  wrote 
to  Ney  that  Austria  would  support  us.  On  the  con- 
trary, the  Emperor  always  said  that  he  stood  alone,  with 
every  one  against  him. 

"The  truth  is  that  when  Ney  saw  that  the  soldiers  and 
the  people  were  all  for  me,  he  wanted  to  make  a  show  of 
putting  himself  on  my  side,  and  to  make  his  profit  out  of 

it Ambition!   ....  Ney  ought  to  have  returned 

at  once  to  Paris;  that  would  have  been  far  more  noble. 
His  proclamation,  which  he  sent  me,  made  me  very  angry. 
What  business  had  he  to  be  giving  away  crowns.-*  I  con- 
cealed my  feelings,  however,  and  said  all  sorts  of  flatter- 
ing things  to  the  officer  he  sent  me,  about  his  master, 
whom  I  took  care  to  call  'the  bravest  of  the  brave.'  " 

The  Battle  of  Waterloo. 

"I  made  a  great  mistake  in  employing  Ney.  He  lost 
his  head.  A  sense  of  his  past  conduct  impaired  his 
energy.  Camot  did  not  wish  me  even  to  make  him  a 
peer.  Had  I  acted  wisely  I  should  have  placed  Soult  on 
the  left,  but  who  would  have  thought  that  Ney,  who  had 
spoken  to  me  (you  heard  him,  Gourgaud)  of  the  importance 
of  Quatre  Bras,  would  have  omitted  to  occupy  that  posi- 
tion?    I  felt  sure  when  I  attacked  the  Prussians  that  the 


1 86     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

English  would  not  come  to  their  assistance,  while  Bliicher, 
who  is  hot-headed,  would  have  hastened  to  support 
Wellington,  though  he  had  had  only  two  battalions.  The 
world  had  its  eyes  upon  him.  He  well  knew  that  rewards 
would  be  lavished  upon  him  if  he  sacrificed  himself  to 
support  the  English." 

"I  ought  to  have  slept  at  Fleurus  on  the  fifteenth,  but 
I  went  back  to  Charleroi,  deeming  it  more  in  the  centre  of 
the  operations.  When  one  looks  at  results  one  can  com- 
monly perceive  what  one  ought  to  have  done.  I  never 
gave  Drouot  an  order  to  come  to  Fleurus.  I  am  blamed 
for  not  having  pressed  the  Prussians  more  vigorously;  but 
you  know  how  hot  the  action  at  Ligny  was,  up  to  the 
last  moment.  I  ought  not  to  have  employed  Vandamme. 
I  ought  to  have  given  Suchet  the  command  I  gave  to 
Grouchy.  More  vigor  and  promptness  were  needed  than 
Grouchy  had  as  a  general  ;  he  was  good  only  at  a  splendid 
charge  of  cavalry,  while  Suchet  had  more  fire  and  knew 
better  my  way  of  making  war.  Mortier,  when  he  gave 
up  the  command  of  the  Guard  to  Beaumont,  did  me  a 
great  deal  of  harm.  I  ought  to  have  replaced  him  by 
Lobau.  Drouot  had  too  many  affairs  on  hand,  and  did 
not  understand  managing  soldiers.  He  would,  however, 
have  made  an  excellent  commander  of  artillery." 

"Duhesme  would  have  well  commanded  the  sixth 
corps.  Priant  was  not  capable  of  doing  the  best  with 
the  Guard.  He  was  a  good  soldier — that  was  all.  A 
good  major  in  command  of  the  cavalry  of  the  Guard  would 
have  been  most  useful  to  me.  I  do  not  know  what 
became  of  my  horse,  especially  my  mounted  grenadiers. 
How  came  Guyot,  who  was  in  command  of  my  last 
reserve,  to  charge  without  my  orders?  My  ordonnance  offi- 
cers' were  too  young,  Montesquiou,  Rey,  Chiappe 

*  "Ordonnance"  officers  in  France  are  orderly  officers  who  carry  orders 
and  messages  for  their  commander,  lo  this  case  apparently  "some  one  had 
blundered."— £.  W.  L. 


WATERLOO  187 

They  must  have  brought  him  some  order  to  engage. 
They  were  mere  aides-de-camp.  I  ought  to  have  had  in 
their  place  men  of  experience. 

"If  I  had  remained  with  the  battaHon  of  my  Guard  on 
the  left  of  the  high  road,  I  might  have  rallied  the  cavalry. 
There  was  still  another  battalion  unbroken  on  the  right — 
the  one  with  which  we  had  marched." 

"Perhaps  when  I  became  aware  of  the  immense  supe- 
riority of  the  Prussians  at  Ligny,  I  ought  sooner  to  have 
ordered  a  retreat.  I  should  have  lost  only  fifty  or  sixty 
cannon.  My  plan  had  succeeded.  I  had  surprised  the 
Prussians  and  the  English;  but  what  then.?  A  great  battle 
is  always  a  very  important  thing.  Suppose  I  had  been 
defeated  at  Jena!" 

"Soult  (my  second  in  command  at  Waterloo)  did  not 
aid  me  as  much  as  he  might  have  done.  His  staff,  not- 
withstanding all  my  orders,  was  not  well  organized. 
Berthier  would  have  done  better  service.  Why  during 
the  battle  did  he  not  keep  more  order  at  Genappe?" 

"If  Wellington  had  fallen  back  on  Antwerp  to  wait 
until  the  Russians  could  come  up,  I  should  certainly  have 
been  in  an  unpleasant  situation." 

"My  regrets  are  not  for  myself  but  for  unhappy 
France!  With  twenty  thousand  men  less  than  I  had  we 
ought  to  have  won  the  battle  of  Waterloo.  But  it  was 
Fate  that  made  me  lose  it."  The  Emperor  then  told  why 
he  did  not  thoroughly  understand  the  battle.'  He  regrets 
he  did  not  place  Clausel  or  Lamarque  in  the  War  Office. 
As  to  Fouché,  he  never  ought  to  have  left  him  in  Paris  in 
charge  of  i\\Q police.     "I  ought  to  have  had  him  hanged, 

'  Gourgaud  remarks  :  "The  Emperor  says  he  did  not  see  as  much  of  the 
battle  as  he  could  have  wished.  He  intended  to  make,  as  he  had  done  at 
Montmirail,  a  perpendicular  attack,  and  to  have  led  it  in  person,  but  the  arri- 
val of  Billow  forced  him  to  remain  in  a  central  position.  Ney  could  not  under- 
stand bis  plan  of  attack." 


i88     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  //ELENA 

and  that  was  my  intention.  Or,  if  I  had  been  the  con- 
queror at  Waterloo,  I  would  have  had  him  summarily 
shot.  Perhaps  I  made  a  mistake  in  convoking  the  Cham- 
bers. I  thought  they  might  be  useful  in  procuring  me 
money,  which  I  might  not  be  able  to  get  if  I  were  pro- 
claimed Dictator.  I  was  wrong  in  losing  time  over  that 
matter  of  the  Constitution,  especially  as  it  was  my  inten- 
tion to  get  rid  of  the  Chambers  as  soon  as  I  should  be  a 
conqueror  and  out  of  all  difficulties.  But  in  vain  I  hoped 
to  find  help  in  the  Chambers.  I  deceived  myself.  They 
injured  me  before  Waterloo,  and  deserted  me  afterwards." 

"I  ought  to  have  withdrawn  Rapp  from  Landau,  as  I 
withdrew  Girard  from  Metz.  That  wretched  war  in  La 
Vendée  did  me  great  harm.  I  could  not  put  the  National 
Guards  into  the  Line;  they  were  good  for  nothing  but  to 
garrison  strongholds.  I  ought  to  have  stopped  for  the 
night  at  Fleurus  on  the  1 6th  ;  fought  the  Prussians  on  the 
same  day,  the  i6th;  and  the  English  on  the  17th  of  June. 
....  During  the  battle  of  Ligny  they  came  and  told  me 
that  some  of  our  men  had  gone  over  to  the  enemy.  The 
movement  of  d'Erlon  did  me  much  harm.  Those  around 
me  thought  it  was  an  advance  of  the  enemy.  D'Erlon 
was  a  good  staff  officer.  He  could  maintain  order;  but 
that  was  all.  He  ought  on  the  15th  to  have  sent  me 
word  that  he  was  at  Marchiennes." 

"The  men  of  181 5  were  not  the  same  as  those  of  1792. 
My  generals  were  faint-hearted  men.  Perhaps  I  should 
have  done  better  to  have  waited  another  month  before 
opening  the  campaign  in  order  to  give  more  consistency 
to  the  army.  I  needed  a  good  officer  to  command  my 
Guard.  If  I  had  had  Bessières  or  Lannes  at  its  head 
I  should  not  have  been  defeated.  I  ought  to  have  had 
mounted  grenadiers  in  reserve;  their  charge  would  have 
altered  the  state  of  affairs,  for  it  was  only  one  brigade  of 


WATERLOO  189 

cavalry  that  caused  the  disorder.     An  officer  had  given 
Guyot,  as  if  it  came  from  me,  an  order  to  advance, 

"Soult  had  not  a  good  staff.  My  orderly  officers 
were  all  too  young,  like  Regnault  and  Montesquiou;  they 
were  mere  aides-de-camp.  Ney  did  great  harm  by  his 
unsuccessful  attack  on  LaHaie-Sainte  and  by  changing  the 
position  of  the  guns,  that  you,  Gourgaud,  had  posted. 
They  would  perfectly  have  protected  his  troops;  instead 
of  which,  while  marching  forward  he  was  exposed  to  an 
attack,  the  very  thing  that  happened.  I  ought  when  I 
quitted  Quatre  Bras  to  have  left  only  Pajol  with  a  division 
of  the  Sixth  Corps  to  pursue  Bliicher,  and  I  ought  to  have 
taken  all  the  other  troops  with  me.  I  sent,  during  the 
night  of  the  seventeenth,  three  orders  to  Grouchy;  and  in 
his  report  he  says  that  it  was  only  on  the  eighteenth  at 
eight  o'clock  in  the  evening  that  he  received  the  order  to 
march  on  Saint-Lambert.  It  was  fate;  for  after  all,  I 
ought  to  have  won  that  battle." 

"It  was  the  good  discipline  of  the  English  that  gained 
the  day.  They  could  advance  thirty  yards,  halt,  fire,  go 
back,  fire,  and  come  forward  again  thirty  yards,  without 
breaking  their  line,  without  any  disorder.  Many  things 
will  be  known  some  day!  Who  could  have  given  Guyot 
orders  to  charge?  He  did  so  before  the  time  I  mentioned 
in  my  account  of  the  battle;  but  he  charged  without  my 
orders." 

The  Emperor  thinks  that  he  did  wrong  to  take  Soult 
for  his  second  in  command;  he  had  better  have  taken 
Andréossi. 

"Soult  had  poor  officers  around  him.  He  had  an 
indifferent  staff.  He  was  easily  discouraged.  During 
the  night  before  the  eighteenth  he  brought  me  several 
alarming  reports.  Soult  is  very  ambitious,  and  his  wife 
governs  him.     I  ought  to  have  had  Suchet  with  me.     I 


190     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

should  have  employed  Drouot  to  organize  the  army  in 
March,  and  have  made  Clausel  Minister  of  War.  The 
raw  conscripts  did  not  know  enough  to  have  gained  any 
esprit  de  corps.  The  cavalry  was  better  than  the  infantry, 
because  it  contained  more  old  soldiers.  " 

**Ah!  mon  Dieu!  perhaps  the  rain  on  the  17th  of  June 
had  more  to  do  than  people  think  with  the  loss  of  the 
battle  of  Waterloo.  If  I  had  not  been  so  worn  out,  I 
should  have  been  in  the  saddle  all  night!  What  seem 
very  small  events  have  often  the  greatest  consequences." 

"Poor  France!  to  have  been  beaten  by  those  English 
scoundrels!  It  is  true  that  the  same  thing  had  happened 
at  Crécy  and  Agincourt.  I  was  too  certain  I  should  beat 
them.  I  had  divined  their  plans.  Perhaps  I  ought  to 
have  waited  a  fortnight  longer  before  giving  battle.  Per- 
haps I  did  wrong  to  commence  the  campaign.  I  thought 
Russia  and  Austria  would  not  take  a  hand." 

"Madame  Hamelin  says  that  the  Duke  of  Wellington 
has  no  talent.  He  is  afraid  of  me.  He  was  fortunate 
for  once,  and  knows  that  it  could  not  happen  a  second 
time.  He  does  not  wish  to  risk  his  reputation.  He 
knows  very  well  that  if  I  were  at  the  head  of  two  hundred 
thousand  French  soldiers,  which  may  happen  in  a  year  or 
two—" 

"If  I  had  postponed  the  battle  I  might  have  received 
a  reinforcement  of  twelve  thousand  men  from  La  Vendée. 
But  who  could  have  supposed  that  La  Vendée  would  be 
so  speedily  pacified.-'  In  other  respects  my  plans  were 
well  laid  and  well  executed.  It  was  fate  that  conquered 
me  at  Waterloo.  The  campaign  ought  to  have  succeeded. 
The  English  and  the  Prussians  had  been  surprised  in  their 
cantonments." 


WATERLOO  191 

After  Waterloo. 

"Ney  got  no  more  than  he  deserved.  I  regret  him 
because  he  was  inestimable  on  a  field  of  battle,  but  he 
was  too  hot-headed,  and  too  stupid  to  succeed  in  anything 
but  a  fight.  He  wanted  to  have  it  believed  that  he  was 
concerned  in  a  conspiracy  to  bring  me  back  from  Elba, 
and  it  cost  him  dear.  Murat,  who  hke  Ney,  was  unri- 
valled in  battle,  like  him  committed  nothing  but  follies  at  all 
other  times.  I  can  assure  you  that  Murat  was  the  main 
cause  of  our  being  here  at  St.  Helena.  Instead  of  keep- 
ing quiet,  as  I  begged  him  to  do,  he  attacked  the  Austrians 
at  the  very  moment  when  the  Emperor  Francis  was  in 
doubt  whether  he  should  not  declare  himself  in  my  favor. 
After  that  there  was  no  remedy.  Of  course  they  said  at 
once:  'Napoleon  is  about  to  renew  his  system,  and  will 
risk  all  to  gain  all.'  In  vain  I  declared  that  Murat's 
attack  was  against  my  wishes.  They  would  have  it  that 
it  had  all  been  arranged  between  him  and  me;  and  after 
that,  it  was  impossible  to  come  to  an  understanding  with 
Austria  and  Russia.  On  my  part  I  had  perhaps  better 
have  postponed  my  landing  in  France  for  two  weeks  or 
twenty  days.  I  can  see  now  some  things  which  lead  me 
to  suppose  that  the  Champ  de  Mai,  and  the  enthusiasm 
in  France  when  I  returned,  were  leading  the  Congress  by 
degrees  to  look  more  favorably  on  me  than  before.  I 
think  they  might  even  have  hmited  their  demands  to 
requiring  that  I  should  keep  only  a  certain  number  of  men 
under  arms,  and  that  I  should  not  enter  on  another  war. 
But  the  great  mistake  I  made  was  in  leaving  Elba  six 
months  too  soon.  I  ought  to  have  waited  till  the  Con- 
gress had  been  dissolved,  in  which  case  they  would  have 
had  to  dispatch  couriers  between  the  different  courts  that 
they  might  act  in  concert.  This  would  have  occasioned 
them  great  loss  of  time,  and  many  difficulties,  which  were 
settled  at  once  when  the  Congress  was  in  session." 


192      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

"The  populace  is  of  no  account,  and  can  do  nothing 
by  itself;  but  with  me  at  its  head  it  would  have  been  dif- 
ferent; it  could  have  done  anything.  Judging  from  what  I 
see  now  passing  in  France,  the  mob  would  have  shot  me 
could  they  have  had  the  chance — yes,  they  would  have  shot 
me  had  they  captured  me." 

"Perhaps  it  would  have  been  better  on  my  return  from 
Elba  never  to  have  called  together  the  Chambers,  but  I 
wanted  to  give  the  nation  a  guarantee.  Besides,  I  felt 
sure  the  colleges  d^ arrondissement  would  send  up  patriotic 
deputies.  But  all — even  Cambon — turned  against  me. 
There  was  only  Felix  Lepelletier,  although  he  had  at  one 
time  received  some  rough  treatment  from  me,  who  felt 
the  necessity  of  rallying  to  my  party.  The  Deputies  must 
by  this  time  repent  of  their  attitude.  After  my  second 
abdication  I  ought  to  have  delivered  myself  up  to  the 
Emperor  of  Austria.  Francis  Joseph  is  in  the  main  a 
good  man,  and  after  a  while  we  should  have  become 
friends  again." 

"The  English  Constitution  could  not  possibly  work  in 
France.  I  admired  that  Constitution  when  I  returned 
from  Egypt,  because  it  was  just  then  the  fashion  to  do  so; 
but  had  I  returned  victorious  to  Paris  from  Waterloo,  I 
should  have  dismissed  the  Chambers.  A  deliberative 
body  is  a  fearful  thing  to  deal  with.  The  English  Consti- 
tution suits  England  only.  Sovereigns  can  best  govern 
without  deliberative  assemblies.  The  men  in  such  bodies 
whom  one  thinks  one  can  influence,  too  easily  change 
sides.  Ah!  Waterloo!  Waterloo!  The  English  Con- 
stitution is  not  suited  to  France." 

"The  King  could  not  have  kept  my  Chambers.  They 
were  too  revolutionary.  I  should  have  changed  them 
myself.  I  had  been  obliged  to  make  them  up  in  that 
manner  after  I  came  back  from  Elba,  thinking  they  might 
give  me  the  means  to  act.     I  made  a  mistake;  I  found 


WATERLOO  193 

them  more  injurious  than  useful.  After  Waterloo  I  had 
another  opportunity  of  getting  rid  of  them.  I  had  six 
thousand  men  in  my  Guard,  besides  the  Fédérés.  But 
that  would  have  led  to  anarchy.  I  foresaw  what  would 
happen!  I  think  that  any  other  course  might  have  been 
better  than  the  one  I  followed,  but  I  had  chances  in  my 
favor,  and  had  I  roused  the  mob  in  Paris  much  blood 
would  have  been  shed  for  no  result." 

"After  Waterloo  every  one  abandoned  me.  I  said  to 
the  Peers  when  they  sent  me  a  deputation,  'Declare  a 
national  war.  Announce  that  you  will  not  sign  a  peace 
so  long  as  the  Allies  remain  in  France.'  They  would 
have  it,  however,  that  things  would  be  as  they  had  been 
in  1814.  Cambacérès  himself  would  not  come  to  see  me, 
nor  would  Regnault;  and  lastly,  it  was  Ney  who  in  the 
Chamber  of  Peers  exclaimed  that  all  was  lost,  that  I  had 
not  more  than  eight  thousand  faithful  men  under  arms. 
Carnot  alone  assured  me  that  it  was  just  like  what  had 
happened  to  armies  in  the  Revolution;  that  the  army 
would  rally  around  Paris,  where  there  were  cannon.  All 
the  rest  believed  that  all  was  lost." 

"Could  I  have  revolutionized  Paris,  and  have  set  up 
the  guillotine?  If  I  had,  I  might  not  have  succeeded.  I 
had  too  many  enemies.  I  should  have  put  myself  in  hor- 
rible peril.  There  would  have  been  much  bloodshed,  and 
little  success.  Instead  of  that,  when  I  knew  that  the 
Chambers  were  against  me,  I  said  to  the  Deputies:  'You 
think,  gentlemen,  that  I  am  an  obstacle  to  peace.  Well, 
then,  get  out  of  the  war  by  yourselves.'  At  least  we 
were  then  in  Paris;  here  we  are  now  at  St.  Helena! 
With  the  exception  of  the  folly  I  committed  in  letting 
myself  be  transported  to  this  place,  if  it  were  to  be  done 
over  again,  I  would  do  the  same  thing.  I  do  not  speak 
of  St.  Helena;  that  was  the  height  of  folly;  but  if  I  had 
gone  to  America — " 


194     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

"When  I  came  back  from  Waterloo  it  was  my  inten- 
tion to  cut  off  Fouché's  head.  I  had  actually  determined 
who  should  form  the  military  commission  by  which  I 
would  have  him  tried.  It  was  nearly  the  same  as  that  which 
had  tried  the  Due  d'Enghien.  They  were  all  men  in 
danger  of" — Here  His  Majesty  made  an  expressive  sign 
with  his  neck-tie — "They  would  have  served  me  well.  I 
sent  for  Darrican  and  Hulin;  they  thought  as  I  did,  and 
I  regret  now  that  it  was  not  done.  But  who  now  consid- 
ers that  Louis  XVI.  perished  because  he  did  not  send  the 
Duke  of  Orleans  to  the  scaffold?  He  ought  to  have  had 
him  tried  in  twenty-four  hours  by  the  Parliament  of  Paris. 
....  I  ought  to  have  gone  to  the  Chambers  the  moment 
I  arrived  in  the  capital.  I  might  have  moved  the  Deputies, 
and  have  induced  them  to  support  me.  My  eloquence 
would  have  roused  their  enthusiasm.  I  would  have  cut 
off  the  heads  of  Lanjuinais,  Lafayette,  and  a  dozen  others. 
I  had  from  the  first  made  a  blunder  in  making  Lanjuinais 
President  of  the  Chamber.  I  ought  to  have  given  the 
post  to  Carnot,  who  in  the  Cabinet  was  not  so  useful  as 
he  might  have  been  in  the  Chamber.  He  is  a  man  who 
understands  revolutions,  and  has  great  courage.  I  ought 
to  have  put  Davout  at  the  head  of  the  army  a  fortnight  be- 
fore I  left  Paris,  and  he  might  have  organized  it.  Posterity 
will  reproach  me  for  having  abandoned  my  soldiers,  the 
Fédérés,  and  men  of  my  own  party.  It  is  true  I  might  have 
reigned  again,  but  it  must  have  been  by  the  axe,  and  that 
prospect  revolted  me.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Allies  might 
have  favorably  received  the  deputation  that  the  Chambers 
were  preparing  to  send  them,  and  have  repeated  what  they 
had  said  before,  that  they  were  fighting  against  me  alone." 

"Some  say  I  might  have  roused  the  populace  of  Paris 
and  have  set  up  the  guillotine.  For  that — if  I  must  say 
the  word — I  had  not  the  courage." 

Gourgaud  thought   that  on  his  return  to  Paris  the 


WATERLOO  195 

Emperor  ought  at  once  to  have  gone  to  the  Chambers, 
have  harangued  the  Deputies,  and  have  made  them  feel 
that  all  depended  upon  union. 

"But  I  had  been  three  days  without  food.  I  was  very 
weary.  On  arriving  in  Paris  I  at  once  took  a  bath,  and 
had  something  to  eat.  I  was  completely  exhausted.  I 
sent  for  my  ministers.  If  I  had  gone  to  the  Chambers  I 
should  no  doubt  have  been  listened  to  with  respect,  per- 
haps with  cheers,  and  then,  as  according  to  the  Consti- 
tution I  could  not  have  remained  during  their  delibera- 
tions, after  I  had  gone  away  everything  would  have  been 
as  before.  I  might  have  flung  a  number  of  the  Deputies 
into  the  river,  and  have  closed  the  Chambers,  like  Crom- 
well. I  certainly  ought  to  have  had  Fouché  shot,  imme- 
diately on  my  arrival;  he  was  the  soul  of  the  party  opposed 
to  me.  The  news  of  his  arrest  would  have  been  cried 
beneath  the  windows  of  certain  Deputies,  to  whom  I 
might  have  said:  'What  is  this  man  that  invokes  the  tri- 
color.'*— a  man  who  fled  from  France  to  a  foreign  country, 
and  who  owed  to  me  his  return  to  Paris.  At  this  moment 
there  is  no  salvation  for  France  but  in  men  who  love  their 
country.  '  I  might  have  ended  by  requiring  the  mob  to 
purge  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  by  hanging  seven  or 
eight  of  its  members,  Fouché  especially.  But  to  do  that 
I  must  have  acted  like  the  Jacobins,  I  must  have  shed 
blood  in  the  streets;  and  after  that,  should  I  have  suc- 
ceeded? I  own  I  might  have  done  it  had  I  been  certain 
of  success,  but  I  did  not  think  so.  And  then  I  saw  that 
by  adopting  that  course  I  must  wade  in  blood,  and  make 
myself  abhorred.  I  preferred  to  abdicate  in  favor  of  my 
son,  and  leave  them  to  get  out  of  their  difiiculties  by 
themselves.  Then  they  would  see  that  it  was  not  I  alone 
that  the  Allies  wished  to  destroy,  but  France!  ....  I 
was  beaten;  the  respect  that  had  been  felt  for  me  was  felt 
so  long  as  I  was  feared;  but  I  had  not  the  rights  of  the 
legitimate  heirs  to  fall  back  upon,  as  a  claim  for  assistance 


196      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

and  revenge.  No  hope  was  left  me.  No!  what  I  have  to 
reproach  myself  with  is  not  having  cut  off  Fouché's  head. 
He  had  a  narrow  escape.  Daru  proposed  to  me  to  form 
a  military  commission  to  try  him.  If  Fouché,  instead  of 
betraying  me,  had  frankly  come  over  to  my  side,  he 
would  have  been  very  useful.  He  was  the  soul  of  the 
faction  opposed  to  me;  and  he  would  have  persuaded  all 
his  followers  to  join  the  national  party.  Yes;  I  ought  to 
have  gone  at  once  to  the  Chamber,  but  I  was  harassed 
and  weary.  Besides,  who  could  have  thought  they  would 
so  speedily  have  declared  against  me?  I  did  not  foresee 
that  Lafayette  was  going  to  make  a  motion  that  the 
Chambers  were  in  permanent  session.  I  reached  Paris  in 
the  evening  at  eight  o'clock,  and  by  noon  the  next  day 
they  were  in  revolt  against  me. 

"After  all  they  took  me  by  surprise.  I  am  only  a 
man.  I  ought  to  have  put  myself  at  the  head  of  the 
army,  which  would  have  proclaimed  my  son;  and  assuredly 
anything  would  have  been  better  than  coming  to  St. 
Helena.  There  was  still  my  Guard  to  give  me  hope, 
and  the  AlHes  might  have  changed  their  plans.  But  no! 
they  would  have  kept  on  saying  that  they  wanted  only  to 
get  rid  of  me.  Even  the  army  would  have  fallen  under 
the  influence  of  that  idea.  History  perhaps  will  reproach 
me  for  having  given  up  too  soon.  There  was  a  little 
pique,  too,  on  my  part.  At  Malmaison  I  had  proposed 
to  the  Provisional  Government  to  put  myself  at  the  head 
of  the  army,  and  take  advantage  of  any  errors  committed 
by  the  enemy.  Its  members  would  not  listen  to  me;  and 
I  sent  them  off  peremptorily.  So  it  may  well  be  said  that 
the  Provisional  Government  betrayed  the  cause  of  France. 
For  when  I  was  gone  there  was  nothing  to  be  done  but 
what  they  did.  Besides,  its  members  were  dreadfully 
afraid  that  the  King  on  his  arrival  would  hold  them  respon- 
sible for  any  opposition  that  might  take  place.  They  all 
thought  only  of  themselves. 


WATERLOO  197 

"I  left  the  Island  of  Elba  too  soon.  I  thought  the 
Congress  was  dissolved.  I  ought  never  to  have  sum- 
moned the  Chambers.  It  would  have  been  sufficient  to 
proclaim  myself  Dictator.  But  I  hoped  that  the  Allies, 
seeing  me  call  the  Chambers  together,  would  place  confi- 
dence in  me.  If  I  had  been  a  conqueror  I  would  soon 
have  got  rid  of  the  Chambers!  ....  But  talking  of 
these  things  puts  me  in  a  bad  humor.  Let  us  go  into  the 
salon!" 

"From  Malmaison  I  could  easily  have  gone  to  Corsica, 
but  I  was  tempted  to  prefer  the  United  States.  London 
even  might  have  given  me  more  chances.  I  might  have 
been  borne  in  triumph  by  the  populace,  had  I  appeared 
there.  All  the  lower  orders  would  have  been  for  me,  and 
my  reasoning  would  have  had  its  effect  on  Lord  Grey  and 
Lord  Grenville." 

"When  a  prisoner  is  taken  he  should  be  treated 
according  to  the  rank  he  has  held,  in  accordance  with  the 
laws  of  war.  I  was  an  Emperor,  and  I  am  now  to  be 
treated  as  General  Bonaparte.  It  is  absurd.  If  they  talk 
of  Legitimacy,  the  English  reigning  family  usurped  the 
place  of  a  legitimate  sovereign.  Consult  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, and  you  will  see  that  Saul  and  David  reigned  only 
because  they  were  anointed  by  the  Lord.  I  was  elected 
by  the  French  nation,  crowned,  and  anointed  by  the  Pope. 
England  recognized  the  French  Republic  by  the  Treaty  of 
Amiens.  The  intention  of  those  who  have  sent  me  to  St. 
Helena  is  to  kill  me  slowly  by  this  tropical  climate.  It 
would  have  been  more  generous  to  cut  off  my  head  at 
once,  by  one  blow.  The  bill  by  which  the  Parliament  of 
England  prescribes  how  I  am  to  be  treated  is  barbarous. 
Why  place  me  on  an  island,  if  it  were  not  that  I  might 
enjoy  more  liberty  than  in  a  prison.'  And  by  reason  of 
the  "restrictions"  I  cannot  go  beyond  the  grounds  of  my 
own  house.     Were  there  no  prisons  in  England.-"' 


CHAPTER  XII. 

FRANCE  AFTER  THE  RESTORATION. 

Observations  by  Napoleon  on  News  Received 
AT  St.  Helena,  1815,  1816,  1817. 

"The  King  ought  to  begin  by  showing  severity,  and 
after  that  he  may  show  clemency.  He  must  be  a  feudal 
sovereign  and  should  re-establish  the  old  Parliaments.  He 
can  do  it  now,  but  later  he  could  not.  He  ought  to  profit 
by  the  stupor  into  which  the  nation  is  now  plunged  by  the 
presence  of  foreign  armies.  The  EngUsh  Constitution 
will  never  do  for  France.  The  only  reason  I  concerned 
myself  about  a  Constitution  when  I  came  back  from  Elba 
was  because  Constitutions  seemed  the  talk  of  the  day; 
but  had  I  been  victorious,  I  should  have  got  rid  of  the 
Chambers.  These  deliberative  assembhes  are  terrible 
things.  The  English  Constitution  can  suit  no  country 
but  England." 

It  must  be  remembered  that  in  these  remarks  upon  the  policy 
to  be  pursued  by  Louîs  XVIII.,  Napoleon  is  advising  his  succes- 
sor how  he  may  best  re-establish  his  unpopular  dynasty.  The 
vacillating  policy  of  Louis  XVIII.  he  feared  would  result  in  the 
ruin  of  France,  and  certainly  in  that  of  the  restored  dynasty. 
Louis  XVIII.  came  back  to  France  in  1815,  as  in  some  sort  the 
vassal  of  the  Allies.  When  he  returned  from  Ghent  after  the 
battle  of  Waterloo  he  was  in  the  hands  of  the  powers,  who  had 
fought  France  really  for  their  own  interests,  but  nominally  for 
him.  When  he  drew  near  to  Paris,  and  passed  a  few  days  at 
a  neighboring  château,  the  National  Guard,  who  if  not  Royalists, 
were  anti-Bonapartists,  delighted  at  any  change,  wanted  to  escort 
him  back  to  his  capital,  but  he  was  not  allowed  by  the  foreign 
generals  to  accept  their  services. 

During  the  first  three  years  of  his  reign,  the  period  covered 
by  these  talks  of  Napoleon  with  Gourgaud,  Louis  XVIII.  was 

198 


FRANCE  AFTER   THE  RESTORATION      199 

never  a  free  agent.  He  was  a  man  of  culture  and  ability,  but  of 
no  personal  experience  in  the  management  of  French  affairs. 
During  his  exile  he  had  read  and  thought,  and  was  inclined  to 
liberal  opinions,  while  the  Princes,  i.  e.,  the  Comte  d'Artois,  and 
the  Due  d'Angoulême,  his  son,  were  of  those  who  had  learned 
nothing,  forgotten  nothing,  during  the  years  they  had  lived  in 
exile.  Their  aim  was  to  put  back  everything  as  it  had  been  befoie 
the  Revolution;  to  blot  out  fifty  years  of  the  history  of  France. 
Louis  XVIII.  saw  that  this  could  not  be.  He  was  close  pressed 
on  the  one  side  by  the  policy  advocated  by  the  Princes  and  the 
émigrés,  and  on  the  other  by  the  public  sentiment  among  French- 
men who  had  been  educated  in  the  ideas  and  aspirations  of  the 
Revolution.  With  these  in  his  heart  he  sympathized,  but  if  he 
showed  favors  to  the  liberal  party,  he  dreaded  to  encourage 
Jacobinism.  If  he  fulfilled  the  hopes  of  the  émigrés  who  had  been 
exiled  and  despoiled  for  their  devotion  to  his  family,  the  cause  of 
the  Bourbons  would  speedily  be  ruined.  From  the  first,  public 
opinion  was  against  him.  He  was  very  unpopular  with  his  own 
family,  and  their  party.  Even  the  Allies  dared  not  favor  his 
adhesion  to  their  policy. 

"The  establishment  of  the  prévôtal  courts^  is  the  best 
thing  the  King  can  do.  France  wants  another  Saint 
Bartholomew.  Louis  XVIIL  is  in  an  embarrassing  posi- 
tion. I  don't  know  what  I  could  do  in  his  place.  France 
is  very  unfortunate.  Gauls!  Gauls! — It  is  not  in  the 
French  character  to  insult  their  sovereigns.  The  Cham- 
ber of  Deputies  by  spreading  terror  in  all  directions  will 
injure  the  cause  of  the  King." 

"The  Emperor  thinks,"  says  Gourgaud,  "that  the 
King  was  too  tardy  in  publishing  his  amnesty.  It  con- 
tained only  sixty  names.  The  greater  part  of  these  were 
of  men  who  were  not  dangerous.  The  King  would  have 
done  better  to  begin  by  a  list  of  proscriptions." 

"The  King  was  wrong  to  yield ;^  it  will  do  him  no 

•  Criminal  courts  held  by  the  Prévôts  or  military  magistrates  in  their  own 
districts.  Their  judgments  were  summary  and  without  appeal.  The  authority 
of  these  courts  was  temporary.— £.  W.  L. 

'Napoleon's  refractory  Chamber  of  Deputies  was  composed  largely  of 
men  who  called  themselves  of  the  liberal  party,  and  were  opposed  to  imperi- 
alism.   As  they  were  not  in  harmony  with  the  new  government,  the  Chamber 


200    TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.   HELENA 

good.  Perhaps  he  was  forced  to  it  by  the  powers.  He 
is  going  back  to  the  same  course  he  followed  in  1814. 
There  is  too  great  a  gulf  between  him  and  the  French 
people  to  make  any  real  union  possible.  He  cannot  do  as 
I  did.  I  granted  pardons  to  men  who  were  only  too 
happy  to  receive  anything  that  I  would  give  them.  But 
now  it  is  different.  The  King  is  wrong,  and  Chateau- 
briand is  right." 

"Louis  XVni.  and  the  Duke  of  Orleans  were  the  only 
men  of  their  family  who  never  plotted  my  assassination." 

His  Majesty  said  that  Louis  XVHL  ought  to  have 
begun  a  fifth  dynasty,  and  have  called  himself  Louis  L 

"The  cours  prévôtales  are  the  best  things  to  restrain 
the  lower  orders  and  the  Paris  mob.  The  Bourbons  can 
succeed  in  sustaining  themselves  only  by  terror.  The 
more  they  alarm  and  oppress  the  French,  the  better.  In 
1 8 14  they  acted  on  the  system  of  rose-water,  and  they 
were  overthrown.  The  French  nation  has  no  national 
character;  it  is  governed  by  the  fashion.  At  present  the 
French  are  all  of  one  party;  to-morrow  they  may  all  be 
of  another,  insisting  that  they  have  always  belonged  to  it 
at  heart.  When,  at  Vienna  and  Berlin,  I  saw  citizen 
soldiers  mount  guard  at  the  arsenal  which  we  were  about 
to  attack,  I  was  indignant;  I  said  to  myself,  'Shall  I 
ever  see  Frenchmen  do  the  same  thing  to  oppose  English- 
men or  Russians?'  And  think  of  a  deputation  from  the 
Institute  coming  to  felicitate  the  Emperor  Alexander!" 

"The  Bourbons  ought  to  send  to  St.  Domingo  a 
hundred  thousand  of  my  old  soldiers,  and  let  them  perish 

was  dissolved  and  another  called,  composed  principally  of  Royalists  and  ex- 
émigrés. The  law  of  elections  in  France  at  that  day  enabled  the  Government 
to  send  up  to  the  Chambers  such  members  as  it  wanted.  The  new  Chamber  of 
Deputies,  as  Napoleon  said,  spread  terror  in  all  directions.  It  encouraged 
what  was  called  the  White  Terror,  especially  in  the  south  of  France.  The 
situation  became  so  dangerous  that  the  allies  interfered,  and  their  representa- 
tives insisted  on  the  dissolution  of  the  Chamber.— £■.  W.  L. 


FRANCE  AFTER   THE  RESTORATION      201 

there  by  the  cHmate,  or  be  killed  by  the  blacks;  in  that 
way  they  would  get  rid  of  both  of  them.  They  ought  to 
exile  all  the  marshals  and  generals  who  arc  not  of  noble 
birth,  and  retain  no  generals  but  those  who  have  sprung 
from  the  nobility.  Montesquiou,  Caraman,  and  Carignan 
would  make  as  good  marshals  as  any  of  mine." 

"At  such  a  moment  '  it  is  cruel  to  sit  here  a  prisoner. 
If  there  is  an  insurrection  in  France,  who  will  put  himself 
at  its  head?  I  see  nobody  who  is  capable  of  great  things. 
Eugene  has  only  a  level  head.  By  that  I  mean  he  has 
good  judgment  and  many  admirable  qualities,  but  he  has 
no  genius — none  of  that  force  of  character  which  is  the 
attribute  of  great  men.  Soult  is  good  for  nothing  but 
to  serve  under  a  commander-in-chief.     No  one  could  do 

that  work  but  me Clausel?     Ah!  Clausel!  he  is 

young,  he  has  talent,  he  has  vigor.     I  fear  no  one  but 

Clausel Should  he  succeed  and  become  a  great 

man  in  France,  do  you  suppose  he  would  be  fool  enough 
to  yield  his  place  to  me?  I  have  many  partisans,  but 
should  he  succeed  he  would  have  many  too.  Men  would 
soon  forget  the  great  things  I  have  done,  and  would  fawn 
on  him  who  had  saved  France.  And  then,  he  who  comes 
last  is  always  thought  to  be  the  best  man — the  past  is 
forgotten  for  the  present." 

The  Emperor  said  that  the  best  step  England  could 
take  would  be  to  stir  up  an  insurrection  in  Paris,  and 
then  use  it  as  a  pretext  to  burn  the  capital.  "It  would  be 
a  great  thing  for  England  to  destroy  the  capital  of  France. 
The  English  would  probably  sink  our  vessels,  fill  up  our 
ports,  especially  Cherbourg,  Brest,  and  Toulon,  and  after 
that  they  would  have  nothing  to  fear  from  us  for  many 
years  to  come." 

Gourgaud  says:  "The  nation  would  rise  in  arms  to 
resent  that." 

'  Rumors  had  reached  St.  Helena  of  disturbances  in  France,  the  result 
of  the  White  Terror. 


202     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  HELENA 

"Bah!  the  nation  hes  prostrate  at  this  moment.  The 
AlUes  could  partition  France  if  they  wanted  to  do  so.  It 
would  be  very  easy.  The  first  thing  to  be  done  would  be 
to  divide  all  my  old  officers  among  themselves,  to  send 
some  of  them  into  Russia,  some  into  Prussia,  some  to 
Austria,  and  some  to  the  Indies.  Were  the  army  scat- 
tered, and  its  officers  in  exile,  what  could  France  do  to 
oppose  the  Allies?'  She  would  have  no  course  but  to 
submit." 

Napoleon  tells  Gourgaud  that  were  he  once  more  on 
the  throne  of  France,  in  six  years  he  would  place  the 
country  on  its  former  footing.  "Austria  seems  to  have 
formed  a  party  in  favor  of  Napoleon  II.  Bassano  will  be 
well  treated  in  Vienna.^  Bavaria,  Saxony,  and  Italy  are 
discontented.     Belgium  would  be  all  for  me." 

Gourgaud  objects  that  at  Waterloo  the  advanced  guard 
of  the  English  was  composed  of  Belgians,  and  Napoleon 
replies:  "Men  always  fight  well  when  their  courage  is 
up;  but  the  people  of  Belgium  are  for  me.  Everything 
depends  on  the  result  of  a  battle.  If  I  had  not  made  the 
blunder  of  fighting  the  battle  of  Waterloo  when  I  did,  all 
else  was  already  accomplished.  I  cannot  understand  yet 
how  it  all  happened.     But  do  not  let  us  talk  of  it  now." 

"Louis  XVIII.  ought  to  send  away  the  priests  and  all 
the  men  who  took  an  active  part  for  or  against  the  Revo- 
lution." 

"The  Bourbons  are  on  the  right  road.  Their  cours 
prévôtales  will  affect  only  the  canaille.  Time  will  bring 
about  reconciliation.  I  hold  somewhat  singular  views. 
I  think  that  there  was  never  any  real  Revolution  in  France; 
that  the  men  of  1789  did  not  differ  from  those  in  the 

*  Maret,  Duke  of  Bassano,  former  Minister  of  Napoleon,  was  sent  as  the 
Ambassador  of  Louis  XVIII.  to  Vienna.  He  contrived  to  keep  alive  in  the 
heart  of  the  young  Napoleon  enthusiasm  for  his  great  father.— £.  W.  L, 


FRANCE  AFTER  THE  RESTORATION     203 

time  of  Louis  XIV.  It  was  the  Queen  and  the  ministers, 
who  brought  about  their  own  overthrow  by  adopting  fatal 
measures.  The  French  are  not  a  mean  spirited  people, 
as  foreigners  now  think  them;  but  in  everything  they 
follow  the  fashion,  and  the  man  who  was  yesterday  with 
all  his  heart  a  Bonapartist,  to-day  is  as  sincere  a  Royalist, 
and  to-morrow  may  be  a  Republican.  If  the  Austrians  go 
to  Lyons,  it  will  mean  the  dismemberment  of  France — 
the  creation  of  the  kingdom  of  Burgundy." 

"The  King  is  breaking  the  neck  of  his  dynasty — 
Faith!  He  is  too  liberal.  He  will  see  what  it  will  be  to 
have  a  Chamber  composed  of  such  Deputies  as  he  is  going 
to  have.'  In  France  the  Chamber  of  Peers  counts  for 
nothing;  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  is  all  in  all.  I  quite 
understand  why  the  princes  are  opposed  to  the  King;  he 
is  preparing  the  way  for  losing  his  crown.  I  think  that 
what  I  said,  namely,  that  he  ought  to  set  up  a  fifth 
dynasty,  may  have  influenced  his  conduct.  If  the  princes 
were  banished,  it  would  put  the  Duke  of  Orleans  on  the 
throne.  He  would  conciliate  all  parties,  who  at  present 
are  in  as  much  disorder  as  ever." 

"When  Louis  XVIII.  dies,  great  events  may  take 
place;  and  if  Lord  Holland  should  then  be  Prime  Minister 
of  England,  they  may  bring  me  back  to  Europe.  But 
what  I  most  hope  for  is  the  death  of  the  Prince  Regent, 
which  will  place  the  young  Princess  Charlotte  on  the  Eng- 
lish throne.  She  will  bring  me  back  to  Europe.  You 
see  what  passed  at  Bordeaux  where  all  were  much  against 
me,  but  in  favor  of  my  son.  If  Napoleon  II.  reigned,  his 
ministry  would  demand  that  I  should  be  detained  at  a 
distance  from  France." 

"You  must  never  mention  insurrection  to  an  Enghsh- 

man.      It    frightens   people   in   his   country,    where   the 

>The  new  Chamber  of  Deputies  was  ultra  Liberal.  It  had  a  strong 
Nationalist  element. 


204     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  HELENA 

people's  party  has  been  repressed.     But  the  fire  is  not 
extinct,  the  sparks  are  numerous." 

"The  Surgeon  of  the  Conqueror*  does  not  believe 
we  shall  be  in  St.  Helena  very  long;  but  he  does  not  think 
the  Enghsh  government  would  let  me  reside  in  England. 
They  would  fear  lest  the  Rioters  ^  should  put  me  at  their 
head.  Those  people  need  a  man  to  lead  them,  and  if  it 
were  1,  all  France  would  be  with  them!  The  surgeon 
thinks  that  the  Bourbons  will  not  be  able  to  sustain  them- 
selves. He  is  a  partisan  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  whom 
he  has  known  in  England.  This  prince  speaks  good 
English,  and  is  more  revolutionary  than  I  am.  But  the 
Rioters  in  England  would  find  me  the  man  who  could  best 
defend  the  rights  of  the  people." 

Napoleon  said:  "Louis  XVIH.  has  a  very  kindly 
face."  He  said  also  that  he  was  a  man  of  talent  and 
that  he  was  sorry  he  could  not  have  known  him.  "The 
Comte  d'Artois  wanted  to  have  me  assassinated." 

"Great  news  from  England!  Ministers  are  about  to 
resign.  We  shall  have  Wellesley,  Holland,  and  Gren- 
ville.  The  young  Princess  says  she  will  punish  the  old 
ministers  for  their  behavior  to  her  mother.  Everybody, 
they  say,  is  talking  about  me  in  England,  where  no  more 
attention  is  paid  to  the  libels.  Nobody  in  France  will  read 
the  Quarterly  Review.  The  Bourbons  will  soon  be  over- 
thrown. Austria  and  Russia  are  getting  very  desirous  to 
withdraw  their  troops  from  France.  The  English  will 
be  requested  to  recall  theirs,  and  then  the  Bourbons  will 
be  driven  from  France!  There  will  be  a  total  change. 
Wellesley  is  for  me.  He  says  that  they  did  wrong  to 
drive  me  out  of  France  in  1815;  and  Hudson  Lowe  is 
abused  in  all  the  newspapers." 

'This  surgeon  was  afterwards  court-martialed  on  suspicion  of  too  much 
sympathy  for  Napoleon,  to  whom  he  had  given  his  medical  services  for  five  days. 

'The  Riots,  or  Rioters,  is  Gourgaud's  translation  of  the  English  word 
Radicals.    The  Duke  of  Orleans  is  Louis  Philippe. 


PRANCE  AFTER  THE  RESTORATION     205 

"I  have  been  reading  Hume.  The  EngHsh  are  a 
ferocious  people.  What  crimes  we  read  of  in  their  his- 
tory! Look  at  Henry  VHI.,  who  married  Lady  Seymour 
the  day  after  he  had  Anne  de  Boleyn's  head  cut  off.  We 
could  not  have  done  that  in  France.  Nero  never  com- 
mitted such  crimes!  And  Queen  Mary!  ....  Ah!  the 
Salic  Law  was  a  wise  thing." 

Saint-Cyr  is  reported  to  have  said  to  the  King:  "If 
Your  Majesty  wants  an  army  you  must  give  it  the  tricolor." 

"But,"  replied  the  Emperor,  "the  King  would  do 
anything  rather  than  give  up  the  White  Cockade,  the 
panache  blanche  of  Henri  IV.  He  would  have  been  all 
right  if  he  had  not  changed  his  system,  but  he  always  has 
been  a  Revolutionist." 

"That  fool  of  a  King  is  going  to  spoil  everything  by 
taking  part  with  the  Revolutionists.  He  has  no  men  of 
good  judgment  around  him.  He  does  not  see  that  the 
Allies  want  to  cut  up  France.  And  for  this  he  incurs  the 
hatred  of  his  brother.  He  will  spoil  everything.  He 
ought  to  have  profited  by  the  stay  of  the  Allies  to  control 
the  Chamber;  the  cours  prévôtales  would  have  managed 
to  restrain  the  populace.  In  five  years  the  foreign  troops 
would  have  departed,  and  then  the  nation  could  have  over- 
thrown the  Bourbons.  Their  system  is  too  old,  and  could 
not  be  maintained.  The  French  nation  does  not  like  to 
be  humiliated;  how  will  it  all  end?  The  Allies  may  set 
up  Dukes  of  Brittany  and  Anjou.  Yes,  they  may  make 
the  Comte  d'Artois  Duke  of  Anjou!  That  is  what  the 
Bourbons  would  like.  Now,  listen  to  what  I  tell  you. 
You  will  see  that  the  King  will  dissolve  his  Chamber  soon 
after  it  has  assembled.     He  will  be  forced  to  do  so." 

"England  shows  herself  insatiable  in  everything.  That 
poor  Louis  XVIII. ,  that  you  English  have  placed  upon 
the  throne  of  France,  contrary  to  the  wishes  of  the  nation, 


2o6     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  //ELENA 

you  are  now  using  as  an  instrument  to  squeeze  money  out 
of  France — twelve  hundred  millions  by  way  of  contribu- 
tions! As  if,  placed  on  the  throne  by  you,  the  French 
did  not  sufficiently  abhor  him The  dismember- 
ment of  Poland  brought  on  the  French  Revolution.  The 
things  that  are  now  taking  place  in  France  may  lead  to 
frightful  consequences  in  Europe.  Germany  is  demand- 
ing a  constitution;  England  is  asking  for  Parliamentary 
Reform;  that  means  a  revolution,  in  which  the  oligarchy 
will  be  overthrown!  Everywhere  there  is  fermentation 
and  discord." 

"This  is  no  time,  Gourgaud,  for  you  to  leave  me. 
Three  years  from  now  King  Louis  XVIII.  will  probably 
be  dead,  and  there  will  be  a  crisis.  If  the  princes  succeed 
the  King,  France  may  be  quiet  and  consolidated.  If  the 
Orleans  princes  or  Napoleon  II.  should  succeed,  you  will 
be  well  received  by  them.  At  all  events,  everything  is 
now  in  fermentation.  You  must  wait  patiently  for  the 
crisis.  I  daresay  I  may  have  many  more  years  to  live; 
my  career  is  not  yet  ended."  ^ 

*  This  was  said  to  encourage  and  pacify  Gourgaud.  Napoleon  constantly 
spoke  of  the  death  he  felt  approaching. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 
GREAT  GENERALS   IN  THE   PAST. 

Alexander  the  Great  and  Caesar.  —  Gustavus 
Adolphus. — Tu  renne. — Prince  Eugene. — Fred- 
erick the  Great. —  Henri  IV.  and  Some  Other 
French  Kings. 


Alexander  the  Great  and  Caesar. 

"To  arrive  at  a  just  judgment  concerning  the  relative 
merits  of  these  two  great  commanders,  we  must  consider 
the  nature  of  their  troops,  and  that  of  the  forces  of  their 
enemies.  When  one  sees  the  exploits  of  Agesilaus,  and 
considers  that  the  army  of  Xerxes  was  destroyed  by  ten 
thousand  Greeks  at  Marathon,  we  perceive  how  few  were 
the  obstacles  Alexander  had  to  encounter  in  order  to  con- 
quer such  enemies.  He  fought  only  a  few  battles,  and  it 
was  the  arrangement  of  his  troops  in  phalanx  that  made 
him  triumph,  rather  than  his  military  tactics;  no  fine 
manoeuvres  worthy  of  a  great  general  have  been  recorded 
of  him.  He  was  a  brave  soldier,  such  a  grenadier  as  Léon.* 
Why  did  he  return  to  Egypt  instead  of  pushing  his  con- 
quests over  Persia  further  still? 

"Caesar,  on  the  contrary,  had  vaHant  enemies  to  con- 
tend with.  He  ran  great  risks  in  the  enterprises  into 
which  his  bold  spirit  impelled  him;  he  came  out  of  them 
successfully,  through  his  genius.  His  battles  in  the  civil 
wars  were  real  battles,  both  because  of  the  bravery  of  the 
men,  and  the  skill  of  their  generals.     He  was  a  man  of 

'  a  grenadier  in  the  Consular  Guard,  subsequently  in  the  Garde  Impé- 
riale. A  man  Napoleon  liked  to  praise  for  his  courage.  It  is  even  recorded 
that  Napoleon  once  spoke  of  Léon  as  one  of  his  few  true  personal  friends,  if 
not  the  only  one.— French  Editor. 

2ffJ 


2o8     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  I/ELENA 

great  genius,  who  loved  bold  enterprises.  Alexander  was 
both  a  soldier  and  a  politician.  I  think  he  was  right  in 
his  disputes  with  his  Macedonians." 

"Up  to  my  time  France  still  felt  the  influence  of 
Cœsar.  The  supremacy  of  the  Pope,  the  Empire  of 
Germany,  and  the  King  of  the  Romans  were  all  destroyed 
by  me.  Charlemagne  had  given  a  good  deal  to  the  Pope. 
Germany,  up  to  my  day,  was  composed  of  great  fiefs. 
At  one  time  one  of  its  Emperors  named  Maximihan 
created  counts  and  barons  in  the  Parliament  of  Paris. ^ 

"No  one  at  length  dared  to  oppose  Csesar.  Men  are 
truly  great  according  to  what  institutions  they  leave 
behind  them.  If  a  cannon-ball,  fired  from  the  Kremlin, 
had  killed  me,  I  should  have  been  as  great  as  they, 
because  my  institutions  and  my  dynasty  would  have 
remained  in  France;  instead  of  which  I  shall  now  be 
almost  nothing,  unless  my  son  should  one  day  reascend 
my  throne." 

The  Emperor  wonders  why,  after  Issus,  Alexander  did 
not  follow  up  Darius  instead  of  wasting  his  time  at  the 
siege  of  Tyre.  "I  think,"  says  Gourgaud,  "that  there  was 
great  exaggeration  as  to  the  hosts  opposed  to  Alexander. 
The  troops  opposed  to  the  Macedonians  were  mere 
masses  of  men,  ill-armed  and  ill-disciphned.  Assuredly 
with  thirty  thousand  men  Alexander  could  easily  have 
routed  the  right  wing  of  the  army  of  the  King  of  Persia, 
which  consisted  of  six  hundred  thousand;  however, 
Darius  might  have  dispatched  armies  to  the  rear  of  the 
Macedonians  to  reoccupy  the  cities  Alexander  had  previ- 
ously taken." 

"Now,"  said  Napoleon,  "you  see  how  history  is 
written!  What  is  the  use  of  working  hard  and  being  in 
difficulties  all  your  life  that  you  may  figure  in  history  after 
you  are  dead.-*" 

'Gourgaud  gives  no  date  for  this  event,  and  it  is  hard  to  say  to  what 
Emperor  Maximilian  Napoleon  was  referring.— £.  W.  L. 


GREAT  GENERALS  IN  THE  PAST         209 

"What  I  admire  in  Alexander  the  Great  is  not  his 
campaigns,  which  we  cannot  fully  understand,  but  his 
political  astuteness.  At  the  age  of  thirty-three  he  left 
behind  him  an  immense  empire  well  established,  which 
his  generals  divided  among  themselves.  He  knew  the 
art  of  gaining  the  love  and  trust  of  conquered  nations. 
He  was  right  to  have  had  Parmenio  killed,  when,  like  a 
fool,  he  was  finding  fault  with  his  sovereign  for  having 
given  up  Greek  manners.  It  was  a  great  stroke  of  policy 
on  Alexander's  part  to  visit  the  Temple  of  Jupiter 
Ammon.  It  enabled  him  to  conquer  Egypt.  If  I  had 
stayed  in  the  East,  I  should  probably  have  founded  an 
empire  like  Alexander,  if  I  had  made  a  pilgrimage  to 
Mecca,  where  I  would  have  made  prayers  and  genuflex- 
ions before  the  Prophet's  tomb;  but  I  would  not  have 
done  this,  without  first  making  sure  it  would  be  worth  the 
trouble.     I  would  not  have  acted  like  that  fool  Menou."  ^ 

"My  account  of  my  campaign  in  Egypt  is  at  least  in 
one  respect  better  than  the  commentaries  of  Caîsar,  which 
have  no  dates." 

"When  I  was  young  I  wanted  to  write  something 
about  Caesar."  ^ 

"But  Your  Majesty,"  said  Gourgaud,  "has  made 
history." 

"Who?  I?  Ah!  but  the  end  needed  success.  It  is 
true  that  Cœsar  himself  cannot  be  said  to  have  succeeded. 
He  was  assassinated." 

GUSTAVUS  Adolphus. 

"Just  look  at  the  man  men  call  the  great  Gustavus! 
In  eighteen  months  he  won  one  battle,  lost  another,  and 
was  killed  in  the  third!  His  fame  was  assuredly  gained 
at   a  cheap   rate History  is    no   better   than   a 

'  Menou,  a  General  left  in  Egypt  after  Napoleon  returned  to  Europe,  pro- 
fessed himself  a  Mohammedan.  He  was  the  same  man  who  retreated  before 
the  enemies  of  the  convention  on  the  13th  Vendémiaire. — E.  W.  L. 

'Tbey  bad  been  reading  a  tragedy  of  that  name. 


210     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

romance.  Now  look  at  Gustavus,  whom  history  exalts 
as  an  extraordinary  man,  and  history  very  likely  will  say 

•nothing  about  us Civilians  cannot  write  about  a 

battle.  Tilly  and  Wallenstein  were  better  generals  than 
Gustavus  Adolphus.  There  is  no  very  able  military 
movement  recorded  of  the  Swedish  King.  He  quitted 
Bavaria  because  of  the  strategic  movements  of  Tilly, 
which  forced  him  to  evacuate  the  country,  and  he  let 
Magdeburg  be  captured  before  his  very  eyes.  There's  a 
splendid  reputation  for  you!" 

His  Majesty  said  that  the  reputation  of  Gustavus 
Adolphus  was  very  extraordinary;  he  took  part  in  very 
few  battles.  "But,  Sire,"  said  the  uncourtier-like  Gour- 
gaud,  "Your  Majesty  yourself  has  been  in  very  few  great 
battles." 

"Bah!"  replied  the  Emperor,  "Ulm,  Austerlitz, 
Essling,  Wagram!" 

A  day  or  two  later  the  Emperor  counts  up  his  battles. 
They  amount  to  nearly  sixty.  Madame  de  Montholon  ex- 
claims: "That  is  splendid!  Not  like  Gustavus  Adolphus, 
who  fought  only  three  or  four." 

TURENNE. 

"Turenne  was  a  good  general — the  only  general 
who  as  he  grew  an  old  man  grew  bolder.  I  approve  his 
operations  all  the  more  because  I  find  them  exactly  what 
I  myself  would  have  done.  He  passed  through  all  grades 
in  the  army.  He  began  by  being  a  private  soldier;  for 
four  years  he  was  a  captain,  etc.  He  is  a  man  who,  if 
he  had  suddenly  appeared  by  my  side  at  Wagram,  would 
at  once  have  understood  my  plan  of  battle.  Condé 
would  have  understood  it  too,  but  not  Caesar  or  Hannibal. 
If  I  had  had  a  man  like  Turenne  to  be  my  second  in 
command  during  my  campaigns,  I  should  have  been  now 
master  of  the  world;  but  I  had  nobody.  Wherever  I  was 
not  present  my  generals  were  defeated.     As  I  was  march- 


MARSHAL   SOULT 


GREAT  GENERALS  IN  THE  PAST         211 

ing  on  Landshut  I  met  Bessières  retreating.  I  told  him 
to  go  forward,  but  he  objected,  saying  that  the  enemy 
was  too  strong.  'Go  forward  nevertheless,'  I  said,  and 
he  advanced.  The  enemy,  seeing  him  again  on  the 
offensive,  thought  he  had  received  reinforcements,  and 
retreated.  In  war  things  often  happen  like  that.  Sol- 
diers should  never  count  their  enemies.  In  Italy  we  were 
always  one  to  three,  but  the  troops  had  confidence  in  me. 
Moral  force,  rather  than  numbers,  may  decide  a  victory. 
Condé  was  one  of  nature's  generals,  Turenne  was  a 
general  by  experience.  I  consider  him  much  greater  than 
Frederick  of  Prussia.  Had  he  been  in  Frederick's  place 
he  would  have  done  much  more  and  would  not  have  com- 
mitted the  faults  of  that  King.  When  Turenne  said  that 
no  army  ought  to  have  more  than  fifty  thousand  men,  we 
must  consider  what  he  meant  when  speaking  of  an  army. 
In  his  time  armies  were  not  organized  into  divisions;  the 
general-in-chief  had  to  order  everything  and  name  the 
generals  who  were  to  command  this  and  that  corps; 
therefore,  you  can  see  that  having  to  oversee  everything 
himself,  there  would  have  been  nothing  but  confusion  if 
the  commander-in-chief  had  had  more  than  fifty  thousand 
men.  Turenne  does  not  say  that  with  fifty  thousand 
men  he  could  beat  two  hundred  thousand.  To  do  that 
would  need  several  of  what  he  calls  armies.  These  were 
what  we  now  call  divisions,  and  corps  d'ar?fiée.  I  say 
further  that  thirty  thousand  or  forty  thousand  men  are 
enough  for  a  corps  d'armée  in  three  divisions.  That 
number  could  be  easily  fed,  and  easily  commanded." 

Gourgaud  asked  why  Turenne  and  Montecucculi 
seemed  to  march  about  without  a  purpose,  from  right  to 
left,  avoiding  each  other,  and  never  giving  battle,  and  why 
one  or  the  other  general  did  not  manoeuvre  so  as  to  pass 
his  opponent,  and  enter  the  enemy's  territory. 

Napoleon  answered:  "Armies  were  weak  in  those 
days;  strong  places  at  that  time  played  a  great  part  in 


212     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST  HELENA 

war.  There  is  no  strong  position  now  which  could  stop 
two  hundred  thousand  or  three  hundred  thousand  men, 
while  everywhere  there  are  positions  that  can  be  advan- 
tageously held  by  twenty  thousand  to  thirty  thousand  men. 
A  village  occupied  becomes  an  important  point.  Its 
importance,  however,  diminishes  according  to  the  strength 
of  the  opposing  army;  twenty-five  thousand  men  opposed 
to  twenty  thousand  are  not  in  the  same  proportion  as  two 
hundred  thousand  men  opposed  to  two  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand.  Armies  are  strong  in  arithmetical,  not  geo- 
metrical, proportion.  For  example,  an  army  of  twenty- 
five  thousand  men  could  employ  only  five  thousand  to 
form  a  detachment,  and  then  would  have  great  difficulty 
in  concealing  the  movement  from  the  enemy.  Besides, 
twenty-five  thousand  could  do  little  or  nothing.  The 
least  fortified  place,  the  smallest  post,  might  stop  them, 
whereas  an  army  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  men 
could  easily  send  off  a  detachment  of  fifty  thousand,  which 
would  be  an  army  sufficient  to  subdue  a  whole  country 
and  capture  its  strongholds.  The  enemy  would  have 
great  difificulty  in  making  out  whether  there  were  two 
hundred  thousand  or  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  men 
before  him.  The  genius  of  Turenne  would  have  enabled 
him  to  command  large  armies  as  successfully  as  he  did 
little  ones.  If  he  had  sprung  out  of  the  earth  and  stood 
by  my  side  at  Wagram,  he  would  have  perceived  my  plan 
and  have  understood  everything." 

"Turenne  was  not  a  briUiant  talker,  but  he  had  the 
genius  essential  to  a  general." 

"He  was  the  greatest  of  French  generals.  Contrary 
to  what  is  usual,  he  grew  bolder  as  he  grew  older.  His 
last  campaigns  were  superb.  I  want  to  write  my  obser- 
vations on  this  subject.  The  tactics  of  that  day  were 
different  from  ours.  Armies  in  general  were  not  large, 
and  the  one  that  was  largest  played  an  important  part  in 


GREAT  GENERALS  IN  THE  PAST         213 

a  campaign.  Condé,  too,  was  a  good  commander. 
Marshal  Saxe  showed  how  badly  off  France  was  in  his 
day  for  good  generals.  I  do  not  know  any  engagements 
to  his  credit,  except  Lawfeld  and  Fontenoy.  A  good 
general  is  not  an  ordinary  man.  Saxe  and  Luxembourg 
were  of  the  second  order.  Frederick  stands  in  the  first 
rank,  so  do  Turenne  and  Condé.  I  must  write  their 
campaigns." 

Prince  Eugene. 

"Prince  Eugene  committed  several  faults.  The  affair 
at  Cremona  was  a  piece  of  foolishness.  One  must  never 
ask  of  fortune  more  than  she  can  grant.  Everything  was 
going  well  for  him.  Villeroy  was  taken,  but  the  removal 
of  two  boats  out  of  the  bridge  made  the  whole  thing  fail. 
The  battle  of  Turin  was  fought  against  all  rules,  but  it 
succeeded,  and  had  immense  results.  Prince  Eugene  was 
a  great  general,  higher  up  the  ladder  than  the  rest  of 
them.     He  fought  on  the  Rhine,  in  Italy,  and  in  Turkey." 

"At  Hochstadt  Prince  Eugene  wanted  to  turn  to  the 
left  and  force  the  French  into  the  Danube.  This  is  badly 
reported  by  Feuquières,  whose  maps  are  ill  made." 

Frederick  the  Great. 

"Frederick  was  always  superior  to  his  enemy  at  the 
opening  of  a  campaign,  but  when  a  battle  was  to  be 
fought  his  troops  were  a'lWays  the  fewest.  His  soldiers 
were  perfect,  his  cavalry  was  excellent;  nothing  could 
resist  their  charge,  as  is  the  case  with  our  cuirassiers. 
And  he  knew  well  how  to  hold  his  army  in  hand  during  a 
battle. 

"Apparently  he  greatly  despised  his  adversaries,  the 
Austrians  especially.  Daun  did  not  undertake  a  pursuit 
until  twelve  days  after  he  had  gained  the  battle  of  KoUin, 
and  Prince  Charles  did  not  leave  Prague  until  four  days 
after  the  departure  of  his  enemies.  " 


214     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

"Frederick,  great  as  he  was,  did  not  understand  artil- 
lery. The  best  generals  are  those  who  have  served  in 
that  corps.  People  think  it  is  easy  to  know  how  to  place 
a  battery  in  position;  it  is  a  great  thing,  however.  If 
batteries  are  formed  behind  the  first  line  of  infantry  in  a 
battle,  and  suddenly  sixty  to  eighty  cannon  are  unmasked, 
all  bearing  on  one  point,  it  often  decides  a  victory." 

"Frederick,  in  his  Instructions,  did  not  like  to  tell 
everything.  There  is  much  vagueness  in  them.  He 
could  have  done  better  had  he  chosen.  I  wanted  to  write 
on  the  same  subject,  but  then,  when  generals  are  defeated 
they  excuse  themselves  by  saying  that  they  only  followed 
the  rules  they  had  been  taught.  There  are  so  many 
different  things  to  be  considered  in  war.  But  no  one  can 
write  on  it  without  pointing  out  the  difference  between 
war  in  our  own  day  and  war  in  the  time  of  the  ancients." 

"Frederick  made  a  mistake  by  losing  forty  days  before 
the  camp  at  Pirna,  which  was  eighty-four  thousand  feet  in 
circumference.  This  loss  of  time  cost  him  dear.  I  think 
the  capitulation  of  the  Saxons  was  postponed  in  conse- 
quence, from  day  to  day.  I  blame  the  march  of  his 
three  columns,  which  came  from  three  places,  Frankfort 
on  the  Oder,  Magdeburg,  and  another.  He  should  have 
made  them  march  closer  to  each  other,  in  order  to  be  able 
to  unite  them  when  the  enemy  should  attack  him.  But 
Frederick  would  defend  himself  by  saying  that  he  wanted 
to  levy  a  contribution  of  money  at  Leipsic,  and  that  he  was 
sure  he  should  not  be  molested.  People  say  that  I  am 
rash;  but  Frederick  was  much  more  so.  One  cannot 
understand  how  Prince  Charles  could  have  been  so  foolish 
as  to  let  him  quietly  cross  two  rivers.  I  have  been  writing 
about  the  battle  of  Prague;  a  child  might  understand  it. 
I  shall  leave  some  notes  on  those  campaigns,  which  may 
be  some  day  useful  to  my  son.     I  might  make  you  all 


GREAT  GENERALS  IN  THE  PAST         215 

admirable  generals  by  discussions  on  military  affairs.  I 
am  an  excellent  schoolmaster.  But  I  would  not  put  my 
impressions  on  such  matters  into  print." 

"Frederick  was  not  an  ordinary  man.  But  at  Kollin 
he  manoeuvred  very  badly.  He  sacrificed  half  his 
troops.  In  my  opinion  he  lost  everything.  Frederick 
had  great  moral  audacity.  I  am  going  shortly  to  dictate 
my  remarks  on  his  campaigns.  They  will  be  very  inter- 
esting. I  ought  to  have  had  his  wars  explained  in  the 
École  Polytechnique,  and  the  military  schools.  Jomini 
would  have  been  a  good  man  for  that  purpose.  Such 
teaching  would  have  put  excellent  ideas  into  the  heads  of 
the  young  pupils.  It  is  true  that  Jomini  always  argues  for 
fixed  principles.  Genius  works  by  inspiration.  What  is 
good  in  certain  circumstances  may  be  bad  in  others,  but 
one  ought  to  consider  principles  as  an  axis  which  holds 
certain  relations  to  a  curve.  It  may  be  good  to  recog- 
nize that  on  this  or  that  occasion  one  has  swerved  from 
fixed  principles  of  war." 

"Frederick  sometimes  acted  against  all  the  rules  of 
war.  On  one  occasion  he  did  not  know  that  the  Austri- 
ans  were  near  him,  and  he  was  taken  by  surprise.  He 
was  obliged  to  face  to  the  right  in  the  midst  of  a  battle. 
In  this  campaign,  and  in  that  of  Prague,  he  was  always 
superior  in  numbers  to  his  enemy,  and  yet  he  came  off  badly 
in  those  encounters.  The  great  art  of  a  general  con- 
sists, if  he  knows  himself  to  be  inferior  in  numbers  to  his 
enemy,  in  proving  himself  superior  on  the  field  of  battle. 
One  cannot  comprehend  the  folly  of  the  Prince  of  Lorraine, 
wlio  ought  to  have  fallen  upon  Frederick  and  Schwerin 
when  they  were  advancing  separately;  instead  of  which  he 
shut  himself  up  in  Prague,  with  forty  thousand  men,  and 
let  himself  be  blockaded  by  fifty  thousand!  He  ought  to 
have  made  sorties  with  thirty  thousand  of  his  soldiers, 


2i6     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

and  Frederick  would  have  raised  the  siege.  In  order  to 
invest  a  place  properly  one  should  take  up  a  good  posi- 
tion, fifteen  or  eighteen  miles  away;  fortify  it,  and  station 
detachments  of  men  in  echelons  on  the  flanks,  so  that  if  the 
enemy  should  attack  any  point,  all  the  troops  may  concen- 
trate at  once  to  resist  him.  If  a  relieving  force  should 
arrive  to  succor  the  besieged,  the  detachments  on  the 
side  opposite  to  the  town  should  be  withdrawn,  and  should 
fall  back  on  the  fortified  position. 

"Frederick  would  not  have  manoeuvred  as  he  did,  had 
I  been  his  opponent.  I  see  nothing  fine  in  his  operations 
at  Rosbach.  He  fell  back  on  his  base,  and  every  time  a 
general  does  that,  it  is  because  he  is  obliged  to  do  so.  I 
see  no  genius  in  that.  If  he  had  rushed  with  all  his 
forces  on  the  left  flank  of  the  enemy's  column,  instead  of 
attacking  it  in  front,  as  he  did,  it  would  have  proved  him 
a  great  general.  That  is  what  I  did  at  Austerhtz.  I 
should  have  done  like  Frederick  if,  instead  of  falling  on 
the  flank  of  the  Russians,  I  had  fallen  back  on  my  base, 
where  Friant  was  stationed. 

"Prince  Charles  ought  to  have  made  one  sortie  after 
another  at  Prague.  Soldiers  are  made  on  purpose  to  be 
killed.  All  the  same,  I  cannot  conceive  why  Soubise  at 
Rosbach  did  not  deploy  his  troops,  why  every  colonel  and 
every  officer  in  command  of  a  battalion  did  not  deploy 
his  men. 

"Soubise  could  have  drawn  his  columns  together  and 
then  have  deployed  regiment  after  regiment,  ordering  the 
men  to  keep  up  a  steady  fire  from  both  ranks.  There  is 
no  excuse  for  anybody;  they  ought  to  have  put  every 
captain  of  artillery  the  army  possessed  into  the  batteries. 
The  Swiss  alone  held  their  ground,  and  Soubise  ordered 
them  to  retreat.  He  ought  to  have  raUied  them.  He 
had  better  have  fought,  even  though  he  risked  the  loss  of 
eight  thousand  men,  than  have  fallen  back  so  shamefully. 
In  those  days  they  did  not  know  how  to  make  war.     In 


GREAT  GENERALS  IN  THE  PAST         217 

the  French  army  there  were  too  many  men  of  talent  fond 
of  talking;  men  who  liked  to  argue  and  discuss.  They 
needed  a  commander  who  would  firmly  enforce  his  orders, 
who  cared  nothing  for  these  men  of  social  talent,  and  who 
would  have  made  every  one  act  as  he  thought  proper.  The 
Marshal  de  Saxe  was  not  an  eagle,  but  he  had  firmness  of 
character,  and  could  make  himself  obeyed.  Nowadays 
there  is  no  general,  no  commander  of  a  battalion,  who  has 
not  done  better  than  Soubise.  Madame  de  Pompadour 
at  that  time  caused  the  French  to  play  the  part  of  auxil- 
iaries to  the  troops  of  the  Princes  of  Germany. 

"Frederick  at  Rosbach  had  twenty- five  thousand  men; 
Soubise  had  twenty  thousand  French  soldiers,  and  an 
equal  number  belonging  to  the  German  princes.  These 
last  were  then  good  for  nothing.  (Now  they  have  become 
good  soldiers,  because  they  have  been  incorporated  into 
large  bodies  of  men.)  He  had  besides,  thirty  thousand 
Bavarians. 

"What  is  most  remarkable  about  Frederick  is  not  his 
skill  in  military  movements,  but  his  audacity.  He  suc- 
ceeded in  doing  what  I  never  ventured  to  attempt.  He 
quitted  his  Hne  of  operations,  and  often  seemed  to  act  as 
if  he  had  no  knowledge  of  the  military  art." 

"Frederick  was  right  in  what  he  said  about  detach- 
ments. In  mountain  warfare  a  general  should  let  himself 
be  attacked  rather  than  take  the  offensive.  What  to  do 
calls  for  ability!  Suppose  the  enemy  occupies  a  strong 
position,  you  must  take  one  that  will  compel  him  to  come 
out  and  attack  you,  or  else  to  take  up  one  in  your  rear. 
That  is  what  I  did  to  make  the  Austrians  evacuate 
Saorgio.  On  a  plain,  I  think  as  Frederick  does,  that  it 
is  best  to  attack  first.  ObHque  order  is  good  only  when 
an  army  cannot  manoeuvre.  Mountains  are  much  greater 
obstacles  than  rivers.  You  can  always  cross  a  river,  but 
not  a  mountain.    Very  often,  as  is  the  case  in  the  Vosges, 


2i8     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

there  are  only  two  or  three  passes,  and  even  they  are 
barred  at  places  through  which  an  army  would  have  to 
pass.  In  a  few  hours  you  can  make  a  bridge,  and  it 
would  take  six  months  to  make  a  road.  You  may  make 
a  détour  of  six  or  nine  miles  in  some  places,  but  you  could 
not  make  one  of  fifteen  leagues.  Before  Marengo  I  could 
not  have  crossed  the  Alps  if  the  King  of  Sardinia  had  not 
made  roads  up  to  the  foot  of  the  range.  If  there  had 
been  soldiers  enough  to  defend  the  town  of  Bard  and  the 
fort,  I  could  not  have  passed  into  Italy. 

"The  great  advantage  armies  have  at  the  present  day 
is  their  being  made  up  of  divisions;  each  of  which,  like 
the  Roman  legion,  can  suffice  for  itself." 

"There  are  good  things  in  Frederick's  Instructions, 
but  they  are  written  in  too  great  haste,  and  do  not  go 
deep  enough.  I  have  begun,  as  you  know,  a  work,  which 
if  I  ever  finish  it,  will  be  interesting.  Frederick,  great 
man  as  he  was,  committed  some  faults, — at  KoUin,  for 
example, — but  his  historians  were  Prussians,  and  did  not 
point  them  out.  One  would  like  to  read  an  account  of 
his  campaigns,  written  by  an  officer  serving  under  Daun." 

Henri  IV,  and  Some  Other  French  Kings. 

"Henri  IV.  never  did  anything  great.  He  gave  fifteen 
hundred  francs  to  his  mistresses.  Saint  Louis  was  a 
simpleton.  Louis  XIV.  was  the  only  King  of  France 
worthy  of  the  name." 

The  Emperor  declared  that  the  manifesto  of  Henri 
IV.  against  his  queen,  Marguerite  de  Valois,  was  in  his 
opinion  a  libel. 

"It  makes  me  laugh  to  read  how  Masson  endeavored 
to  demonstrate  to  Frederick  the  Great  that  Henri  IV. 
was  the  greatest  captain  of  ancient  or  modem  times.  He 
was  a  fine  man,  but  he  did  nothing  extraordinary,  and  as 


GREAT  GENERALS  IN  THE  PAST         219 

a  gray-beard  running  after  disreputable  women  in  the 
streets  of  Paris,  he  was  an  old  fool.  But  in  opposition 
to  Louis  XIV.,  who  was  detested,  Henri  IV.  has  been 
extolled  to  the  skies.  Besides,  Voltaire,  by  his  epic 
poem  the  'Henriade,'  made  him  very  popular.  I  am 
sure  that  in  his  own  day  he  had  not  the  popularity  he  has 
in  ours." 

"Henri  IV.  was  a  brave  soldier.  With  his  own  sword 
he  sometimes  risked  himself  far  from  his  main  army  with 
only  one  or  two  squadrons.  Francis  I.  also  was  a  brave 
king;  but  a  sovereign  is  surrounded  by  so  many  men  who 
entreat  him  not  to  risk  his  life,  who  assure  him  he  will  be 
captured,  and  that  his  safety  is  everything  for  the  state, 
that  many  kings  of  France  have  been  taken  prisoners,  so 
that  a  king  must  be  very  brave  indeed  to  go  under  fire." 

"Henri  IV.  was  a  good  soldier,  but  in  his  day  all  that 
was  needed  was  courage  and  good  sense.  It  was  not  the 
same  thing  as  war  with  great  masses  of  men.  We  must 
do  justice  to  the  French  kings;  all  of  them  were  brave 
men." 

"The  order  of  the  Knights  of  Malta  was  absurd. 
The  Knights  did  nothing  but  enjoy  their  revenues.  They 
did  no  fighting.  The  Pope  might  very  properly  have 
taken  some  of  their  wealth  to  destroy  the  Mediterranean 
pirates.  Saint  Louis  mismanaged  his  expedition  into 
Egypt.  I  should  have  failed  in  mine  had  I  done  the 
same." 

The  Emperor  thinks  that  we  have  very  meagre  reports 
of  the  wars  in  the  time  of  Louis  XIV.,  and  yet  many 
illustrious  families,  one  would  think,  had  an  interest  in 
transmitting  to  posterity  full  accounts  of  the  great  deeds 
of  certain  generals. 

"Louis  XIV.  was  the  greatest  king  our  country  has 
ever   possessed.     He   had   four  hundred   thousand  men 


220    TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  //ELENA 

under  arms;  and  a  king  of  France  who  could  assemble 
so  many  could  have  been  no  ordinary  man.  Only  he  and 
I  ever  had  such  great  armies." 

"Louis  XIV.  was  a  great  king,  but  not  a  great  soldier. 
His  passage  of  the  Rhine,  which  has  been  so  much 
praised,  amounted  to  nothing.  His  troops  passed  over 
by  a  ford  defended  by  two  poor  regiments.  But  anyhow 
he  was  a  great   king." 

"The  Revolution  was  beginning  in  the  latter  years  of 
Louis  XV.  He  was  a  man  of  talent,  and  foresaw  it;  but 
he  thought,  'Things  as  they  are  will  last  my  time.'  " 

We  spoke  of  Louis  XV.  The  Emperor  said:  "Louis 
XV.  never  had  any  heart." 

"It  might  be  said  with  truth  that  Louis  XV.  gained 
the  battle  of  Fontenoy  himself,  by  not  following  the  advice 
of  his  courtiers,  who  urged  him  to  recross  the  river.  If 
he  had  gone,  his  household  troops  would  have  followed 
him,  and  the  battle  would  have  been  lost.  He  would 
most  certainly  have  been  assassinated,  he  had  so  many 
enemies,  had  the  Revolution  broken  out  in  his  day." 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

MARSHALS  AND  GENERALS,    1814-1815. 

MuRAT,  Grand  Duke  of  Berg  and  King  of  Naples. 
—  Ney,  Due  d'Elchingen  and  Prince  de  la 
MosKWA.  —  Other  Generals. 


Murat,  Grand  Duke  of  Berg  and  King  of  Naples. 

"Murat  knew  better  than  Ney  how  to  conduct  a  cam- 
paign, but  after  all  he  was  a  very  poor  general.  He 
always  made  war  without  the  help  of  maps.  At  the  time 
of  Marengo  I  ordered  him  to  take  Stradella.  He  sent  his 
corps  thither,  and  it  was  already  in  action  while  he  him- 
self stayed  at  Pavia  to  make  sure  of  a  wretched  contribu- 
tion of  ten  thousand  francs!  I  made  him  leave  the  place 
immediately.  But  his  delay  cost  us  five  hundred  men. 
The  enemy  had  to  be  driven  out  of  a  position  which  we 
ought  to  have  been  the  first  to  occupy.  How  many  errors 
did  not  Murat  commit  in  order  to  establish  his  headquarters 
in  some  château  where  he  knew  there  were  pretty  women  ! 
He  had  to  have  women  about  him  every  day,  and  for  that 
reason  I  tolerated  the  practice  of  allowing  generals  to 
have  each  a  disreputable  female  attached  to  him." 

"Murat  has  had  only  what  he  deserved.  Ah!  if  I 
could  see  his  wife,  I  am  certain  she  would  tell  me  some 
fine  stories  about  him.  It  was  all  my  own  fault.  I 
ought  to  have  left  him  a  marshal,  and  never  to  have  made 
him  Grand  Duke  of  Berg;  still  less  King  of  Naples.  He 
was  off  his  head.  He  was  very  ambitious.  I  rose  to 
distinction  step  by  step,  but  Murat  wanted  at  a  bound  to 
be  chief  of  everything.  He  intrigued  with  Fouché  before 
my  second  marriage.     I  am  certain  that  at  Leipsic  he  was 

221 


223      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST  HELENA 

betraying  me.  He  had  poor  brains,  which  hatched 
chimeras,  and  he  fancied  himself  a  great  man.  He 
incited  tlie  Italians  to  revolt,  but  had  no  guns  to  furnish 
them.  He  refused,  like  a  fool,  the  asylumn  Metternich 
offered  him,  where  as  Count  of  Lipona  he  might  have 
lived  very  happily  in  exile.  It  is  said  he  wished  to  die  a 
soldier's  death;  but  bah!  he  had  better  have  lived  with 
his  wife  and  children.  Besides,  who  knows  what  might 
have  happened?  Instead  of  that  he  did  the  most  foolish 
act  any  man  ever  committed.  He  compromised  two  hun- 
dred Corsicans,^  brave  men  1  am  sure,  and  almost  all  of 
them  my  own  relations.  With  two  hundred  men  he  set 
out  to  recover  a  kingdom  he  had  lost  when  at  the  head  of 
eighty  thousand!  He  thought  of  disembarking  at 
Salerno;  in  that  case  he  would  have  been  shot  at  Salerno. 
There  were  eight  thousand  Austrians  at  Naples.  If  there 
had  been  twenty  thousand  English  soldiers  in  Paris  when 
I  left  Elba,  I  could  not  have  succeeded." 

"You  may  be  sure  that  Murat  was  not  trying  to  march 
on  Monteleone,  but  that  he  was  on  the  point  of  falling 
back,  when  he  was  attacked." 

"Six  thousand  French  soldiers  would  be  sufficient  to 
conquer  the  Kingdom  of  Naples,  if  it  had  only  its  own 
troops  to  depend  upon.  When  Murat  fancied  he  had  an 
army  and  could  do  something  after  my  return  from  Elba, 
he  cried:  'Ah!  Ah!  the  old  King!  He  will  see!  He 
thinks  his  Neapolitans  are  soldiers.  Well!  they  will 
desert  him.  They  are  a  vile  mob!'  Yet  Murat  had 
managed  to  get  along  without  a  French  army  to  keep  him 
on  his  throne,  and  that  was  a  great  thing.  It  was  pure 
folly  to  think  that  he  could  fight  Austria  and  establish  the 
Kingdom  of  Italy."   ^ 

^  Napoleon  was  apt  to  misstate  numbers.  Murat's  Corsicans  vary  in  his 
statements  from  thirty  to  two  hundred. — E.  W.  L. 

*iThere  is  much  mention  of  Murat  in  the  chapters  on  the  Russian  Cam- 
paign and  the  Return  from  Elba.  Also  in  the  chapter  on  Napoleon's  Rise  to 
Fame  and  Fortune,  in  connection  with  events  on  the  13th  Vendémiaire.  These 
it  is  not  necessary  to  repeat  here.— £.  W.  L. 


MARSHALS  AND  GENERALS  223 

Ney,  Due  d'Elschingen  and  Prince  de  la  Moskwa. 
(Born  1769;  shot  1815.) 

"Ney  made  a  poor  defence  at  his  trial.  He  ought  to 
have  shown  more  nobleness  in  his  replies,  and  to  have 
taken  his  stand  on  the  Convention  of  Paris.  He  could 
not  justify  himself.  He  acted  in  good  faith  up  to  March 
14th;  that  I  think  everybody  is  convinced  of.  It  is  false 
that  I  sent  him  that  proclamation;  but  whether  I  did  or 
not,  he  was  equally  guilty.  What  the  devil!  how  came  a 
Marshal  of  France  not  to  know  what  he  said  and  what  he 
signed?  Choiseul,  who  would  not  vote  on  the  trial 
because  he  said  the  court  had  not  received  sufficient 
instructions,  was  one  of  the  men  shipwrecked  at  Calais.' 
I  gave  him  his  life  ;  but  you  may  be  sure  it  was  not  from 
gratitude  he  acted  thus,  but  because  he  thought  that  had 
he  condemned  Ney  he  would  have  had  more  to  fear  than 
others  if  the  reaction  took  another  turn,  than  he  had  to  fear 
from  the  King  if  he  did  not  unite  in  condemning  him.  He 
knew  very  well  that  Louis  would  decline  to  receive  him, 
and  that  that  would  be  all.  On  the  other  hand,  his  con- 
duct made  him  many  partisans.  He  was  so  miserably 
poor  at  one  time  during  my  reign  that  he  acted  as  one 
of  my  spies." 

"Men  are  like  musicians  in  a  concert:  each  man  has 
his  own  part  to  play.  Ney  was  an  excellent  commander 
for  ten  thousand  men,  but  for  all  else  he  was  a  mere 
fool." 

"Ney's  sole  answer  at  his  trial  should  have  been,  'I 
am  under  the  protection  of  the  Treaty  of  Paris;  but  kill 
me  if  you  think  proper.'  I  should  have  said,  if  I  had 
been  arrested:  'I  am  not  here  to  render  you  any  account 

*  A  party  of  émigrés  escaping  from  France  were  wrecked  near  Calais 
about  the  close  of  the  Revolution.  They  were  captured  and  tried  as  returned 
emigres.  The  daughter  of  Choiseul  appealed  to  the  First  Consul  and  they 
were  set  at  liberty.— £.  W.  L. 


224     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  //ELENA 

of  my  conduct.  I  cannot  legally  be  condemned  by  you, 
nor  legally  acquitted.  But  kill  me  if  you  please  to  do 
so.'  " 

"General  Lecourbe,  who  served  under  the  Directory, 
had  all  the  qualities  which  make  a  good  general.  Ney 
commanded  a  brigade  under  him.  Ney  had  no  talent, 
nor  had  he  moral  courage.  He  was  good  to  animate  his 
soldiers  on  a  field  of  battle,  but  I  never  ought  to  have 
made  him  a  Marshal  of  France.  He  had,  as  Caffarelli 
said  of  him,  just  the  probity  and  courage  of  a  hussar.  I 
ought  to  have  left  him  a  general  of  division.  In  1 815, 
was  there  ever  seen  such  impudence,  as  when  in  his 
proclamation  he  pretends  to  dispose  of  the  throne  of 
France?  I  had  great  difficulty  to  contain  myself  about 
this  when  I  saw  him.  What  Labédoyère  said  of  his 
conduct  history  believes.  But  Ney  came  over  to  me  only 
when  he  saw  that  all  his  regiments  were  deserting  him. 
He  was  looking  for  a  reward.  He  had  lost  his  head. 
He  is  a  hare-brained,  foolish  fellow.  It  was  that  that 
made  him  act  so  absurdly  in  the  Chamber  of  Peers. 
France  without  her  army  will  be  lost!  If  Ney  was  shot 
because  he  came  over  to  me,  he  ought  to  have  been  shot 
for  not  coming  sooner."* 

Other  Generals. 

"Desaix  was  the  best  general  I  ever  knew.  Clausel 
and  General  Gérard  promised  well.  Bernadotte  has  no 
head.  He  is  a  true  Gascon.  He  will  not  stay  long 
where  he  is.     His  turn  for  an  overthrow  will  soon  come.^ 

•There  was  a  very  strong  feeling  among  Liberals  in  England  that  the 
Duke  of  Wellington  missed  an  occasion  of  displaying  magnanimity  in  connec- 
tion with  Ney's  execution.  He  was  all-powerful  in  Paris  at  the  time,  and  many 
thought  he  might  have  interposed  successfully  in  favor  of  so  brilliant  a  Gen- 
eral. Napoleon,  however,  could  not  forgive  Ney.  His  presumption  and  impru- 
dence in  his  proclamation  told  against  him  in  the  Emperor's  mind  much  more 
than  his  defection  ;  besides,  as  Napoleon  said,  "  1  never  can  endure  traitors."— 
£.  W.  L. 

®  Bernadotte  was  the  son  of  a  lawyer  at  Pau.  He  was  destined  for  the 
law,  but  entered  the  marine  service.     When  the  Revolution  removed  all 


MARSHALS  AND  GENERALS  225 

The  Emperor  regretted  to  Gourgaud  that  his  marshals 
and  generals  did  not,  on  their  trial,'  show  the  heroic 
fanaticism  that  men  in  such  circumstances  are  reported  to 
have  done  in  the  English  Revolution,  and  among  the 
Romans.  He  said  that  their  defence  seemed  to  have  no 
character.     Only  Cambronne  appeared  to  advantage. 

"Drouot  said  things  he  ought  not  to  have  said.  He 
drew  up  the  proclamation  himself  at  Elba.  It  is  not 
true  that  he  tried  to  dissuade  me  from  the  enterprise. 
You  know,  Gourgaud,  I  do  not  allow  myself  to  be  gov- 
erned by  advice." 

Gourgaud,  who  was  attached  to  Drouot,  says  to  the 
Emperor,  in  answer  to  this  remark:  "But  he  said  at  the 
trial  that  he  would  do  as  he  had  done  over  again,  under 
the  same  circumstances!" 

"True;  but  he  was  not  like  Cambronne,  in  whom  I 
see  nothing  to  be  blamed.  Bourmont  behaved  basely. 
Ney  might  have  pointed  out  his  conduct  in  sending  to 
Bertrand  to  ask  me  for  employment,  and  then  when  he 
saw  things  were  not  turning  out  well,  he  deserted  me! 
Bourmont  was  known  to  be  one  of  the  most  false  and 
hypocritical  men  among  the  Vendeans.  I  never  ought  to 
have  given  him  employment.  It  was  Junot  who  first  put 
him  into  my  service.     That  simpleton  always  wanted  to 

restrictions  of  ranlc  he  entered  the  army  and  rose  rapidly.  His  personal  rela- 
tions with  Napoleon  were  never  cordial.  We  have  seen  that  he  was  nearly 
involved  in  the  conspiracy  of  Moreau.  He  served  with  great  distinction  both 
under  the  Directory  and  in  the  campaigns  of  Napoleon.  In  the  time  of  the 
Directory  he  was  Ambassador  at  Vienna  and  Minister  of  War.  In  1810  he  was 
made  Governor  of  Hanover,  and  conducted  himself  so  ably  that  when  the 
Prince  of  Augustenburg,  the  Crown  Prince  of  Sweden,  died,  he  was  elected  by 
the  Swedes  to  be  their  future  sovereign.  The  death  of  Charles  XHl.in  1818 
made  him  King  Charles  XIV.  His  administration  was  admirable.  He  left 
his  throne  to  his  son  Oscar,  who  married  Josephine,  daughter  of  Prince  Eugene 
Beauharnais.  No  royal  family  in  Europe  commands  more  general  respect 
than  that  of  Sweden. 

•  Ney,  Labédoyère,  Lavalette,  Lallemand,  d'Erlon,  Lefebvre,  Davout.  Bray- 
er,  Clausel,  Laborde,  Cambronne,  Savary, Grouchy,  and  six  others  were  brought 
to  trial.  The  hrst  three  were  condemned  to  death.  Several  sought  safety  in 
the  United  States;  others  were  exiled;  others  were  degradedfrom  the  peerage. 
Drouot  and  Cambronne  were  released.  Some  were  pardoned  and  even  re- 
ceived places  and  employment  from  the  King.— .Û'.  W,  L. 


226     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  I/ELENA 

be  surrounded  by  noblemen  with  ten  quarterings.  And  in 
the  last  place,  that  madcap  Labédoyère  spoke  for  him. 
Davout  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  him." 

"When  Bernadotte  was  insulted  at  Vienna  in  the  days 
of  the  Directory,  I  was  sent  for  by  the  Directors  to  give 
them  my  opinion  on  the  affair.  They  wanted  to  make 
war  at  once  on  the  Emperor  of  Austria.  I  told  them: 
*If  the  Emperor  wished  for  war  with  the  Republic,  he 
would  not  insult  it.  When  the  Austrians  think  of  making 
war,  they  cajole  and  flatter  the  enemy,  so  that  they  may 
have  a  better  chance  to  stick  a  knife  into  him.  They 
offer  all  sorts  of  reparation.  You  do  not  understand  the 
Cabinet  at  Vienna;  it  is  the  meanest  and  most  perfidious 
to  be  found.  It  will  not  make  war  with  you,  because  it 
cannot.  Peace  with  Austria  is  only  a  truce,  but  just  now 
it  cannot  be  for  the  interest  of  the  Republic  to  break  it.' 
They  shortly  after  received  a  dispatch  from  Bernadotte, 
which  confirmed  what  I  had  told  them.  The  Austrian 
Emperor  had  made  all  sorts  of  excuses." 

"Desaix  was  my  best  general,  Kleber  next,  and  I 
think  Lannes  the  third." 

"Drouot  might  have  risen  high.  Gassendi  wrote  to 
me  after  Duroc  died,  to  ask  me  to  give  him  the  Due  de 
Frioul's  place;  in  which  case  he  was  ready  to  resign  him- 
self, to  prove  that  he  was  not  actuated  by  ambition. 
Eblé  was  a  man  of  great  merit,  he  was  really  extraordi- 
nary. Lariboisière  was  good  and  brave.  Sénarmont  at 
Friedland  placed  thirty  guns  in  position.  It  is  not  easy  to 
find  good  officers  of  artillery;  nevertheless  I  had  Sorbier." 

**I  was  very  fond  of  Legrand;  he  was  a  very  brave 
man,  an  excellent  general  of  division;  but  he  would  not 
have  made  a  good  commander-in-chief.  He  was  not  an 
eagle,  but  he  had  sacred  fire.  He  would  not  sign  my 
deposition." 


MARSHALS  AND   GENERALS  227 

"Augereau  was  very  brave.  I  can  never  forget  him 
in  the  affair  of  Castiglione." 

"Victor  is  a  better  general  than  people  think.  At  the 
passage  of  the  Beresina  he  got  over  nearly  his  whole 
corps.  At  Smolensk,  Châtaux,  his  son-in-law,  said  to  me 
when  I  gave  him  orders  for  Victor:  'He  never  will  be 
able  to  do  that.  Your  Majesty  ought  to  send  the  King  of 
Naples.'  It  was  the  order  to  reach  the  Beresina  before 
I  got  there.  You  remember  Châtaux?  He  was  a  brave 
young  man;  he  was  killed  at  Montereau,  in  1814.  I  sin- 
cerely regretted  him.     He  took  Brienne." 

"You  are  mistaken,  Gourgaud,  in  your  estimate  of 
Lannes.  Both  he  and  Ney  were  men  who  would  have 
killed  you  if  they  saw  it  would  be  to  their  advantage. 
But  on  a  field  of  battle  they  were  incomparable.  I  can- 
not tell  what  Lannes  might  have  done  in  these  latter  times. 
Marmont,  whom  I  might  say  I  brought  up  from  boyhood, 
was  treacherous  to  me.  Berthier  was  treacherous  too, 
but  then  he  was  a  man  of  Versailles.  Indeed,  all  men  of 
noble  birth,  like  Nansouty,  Moncey,  and  Lauriston,  were 
not  real  patriots.  They  deserted  me  as  soon  as  the  oppor- 
tunity presented  itself.  Praslin  behaved  well,  so  did 
Beauvau,  but  they  were  the  sons  of  patriot  fathers.  One 
must  always  have  near  one  people  one  can  rely  on.  I 
was  careful  not  to  put  generals  who  had  formerly  been 
nobles  at  the  head  of  my  armies.  Septeuil,  for  example, 
whatever  his  capacity,  I  should  never  have  made  a  general- 
in-chief.  His  father  had  been  the  King's  valet  de 
chambre. ^^ 

"Ah!  Duroc  and  Bessieres!  At  least  they  died  on 
the  field  of  honor.' 

The  Emperor  said  that  he  took  Marmont  on  the 
recommendation  of  his  uncle,  pushed  his  fortunes, 
brought  him  on  as  if  he  had  been  his  son,  and  married 

'  Duroc  killed  in  battle,  1813.    Bessieres  killed,  1813.— £'.  W.  L. 


228   TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

him  to  Mademoiselle  Perregaux.  "And  he  betrayed  me! 
He  will  be  more  unhappy  than  I  am!  ^  I  said  so  at 
Fontainebleau  after  his  first  desertion." 

*  Marmont  was  of  a  good  family  in  tfie  south  of  France.  He  served  in  the 
army  before  the  Revolution.  After  that,  under  the  patronage  of  Napoleon,  he 
rose  rapidly,  though  he  was  never  considered  a  great  general.  In  Spain  he 
displeased  Napoleon  by  the  loss  of  the  battle  of  Salamanca.  He  was  left  in 
command  of  the  garrison  of  Paris  in  1814,  and  capitulated  to  the  Allies.  Louis 
XVni.  received  him  into  favor  and  gave  him  employment.  After  Napoleon's 
return  from  Elba  he  renewed  his  allegiance  to  his  old  master,  but  a  second 
time  deserted  him  when  the  Senate  pronounced  his  deposition.  His  subse- 
quent conduct  was  vacillating  and  weak.  He  died  in  1852.  He  commanded 
the  royal  troops  during  the  revolution  of  1830,  and  left  France  with  Charles  X.— 
E.  W.  L. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE    ART    OF   WAR. 

"A  general  must  never  for  any  minor  consideration 
miss  his  chance  of  destroying  the  enemy.  Therefore,  at 
Mantua  I  abandoned  my  artillery,  because  I  had  only 
thirty  thousand  men  and  was  going  to  fight  a  hundred 
thousand." 

"To  Lefebvre  was  due  the  victory  of  Fleurus.  He 
is  a  very  brave  man,  who  did  not  care  about  the  move- 
ments taking  place  on  his  right  or  on  his  left;  all  he 
thought  of  was  how  to  fight  right  on.  He  was  not  afraid 
of  dying.  That  was  well,  but  sometimes  such  men  get 
themselves  into  dangerous  circumstances,  and  are  sur- 
rounded. Then  comes  capitulation,  and  after  that  they 
have  lost  their  courage  forever." 

"Cannon  ought  to  accompany  the  rear  guard  of  an 
army;  and  each  man  should  carry  several  charges  for  the 
guns.  Thus  the  advanced  guard  would  have  enough  to 
supply  a  battery,  without  having  the  encumbrance  of 
caissons.  I  think  that  the  weight  might  be  easily  divided; 
a  hundred  pounds  would  be  enough  for  the  weight  of  the 
balls." 

"A  man  at  the  head  of  affairs  is  like  the  commander- 
in-chief  of  an  army,  who  the  night  before  a  battle  ought 
to  issue  his  orders  for  the  next  day.  If  he  does  not, 
every  one  merely  does  what  he  is  ordered  to  do  at  the 
moment,  and  no  plan  is  carried  out;  all  is  confusion." 

"Each  division  possesses  all  that  makes  it  complete. 
It  is  like  the  Roman  legion.     If  the  French  army  had 

229 


230   TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

been  so  organized  at  Fontenoy  its  manœuvres  would  not 
have  been  partial,  as  they  were.  Voltaire  imagines  that 
Richeheu  '  won  that  battle!  His  description  is  absurd. 
He  takes  pains  to  tell  us  the  names  of  the  nobles,  and  the 
numbers  of  their  regiments  only,  and  makes  no  mention 
of  the  principal  movements.  At  Denain  (1712)  I  should 
have  done  like  Villars." 

"It  is  easy  to  see  that  Gassendi^  had  no  personal 
knowledge  of  war.  He  is  a  nobody,  an  ignoramus.  He 
never  ought  to  have  put  such  nonsense  in  a  work  that  was 
semi-official.  It  was  no  business  of  his,  as  a  Councillor 
of  State,  to  criticise  the  operations  of  generals.  What 
must  foreigners  think  of  it.-*  In  England,  for  example, 
such  a  thing  could  not  be  done.  He  thought  by  a  few 
flights  of  flattery  to  make  amends  for  what  he  had  said. 
It  looks  to  me  like  irony.  He  constantly  quotes  Gribeau- 
val,^  who  really  was  a  good  officer,  but  had  never  been 
present  at  any  siege  but  that  of  Schweidnitz;  however, 
he  did  great  service  in  pointing  out  how  to  lighten  and 
how  to  simplify  the  artillery.  If  he  had  been  actively 
engaged  in  war  as  long  as  we,  he  would  have  been  the 
first  to  propose  to  simplify  it  still  more.  In  all  that  we 
have  done  we  have  only  followed  the  principles  laid  down 
by  Gribeauval,  founded  on  his  observations  during  a 
twenty-five  years'  war.  Gassendi  does  not  approve  of 
horse  artillery;  above  all  ours,  in  which  the  cannoniers  are 
on  horseback.  Well!  that  alone  has  changed  the  face  of 
war.  I  mean  that  it  enables  a  corps  of  cavalry  and  some 
batteries  of  horse-artillery  to  act  together,  and  to  fall 
upon  the  rear  of  an  enemy.  What,  after  all,  is  the 
expense  of  a  few  regiments  of  horse-artillery  compared  to 
the  advantage  of  such  a  branch  of  the  service.''     Besides 

*  The  Due  de  Richelieu,  minister  of  Louis  XV. 

'  Gassendi  had  been  an  officer  in  the  wars  of  the  Revolution. 

^Gribeauval  wrote  a  book  upon  artillery  in  the  eighteenth  century. — E. 
W.L. 


THE  ART  OF  WAR  231 

this,  a  soldier  must  learn  to  love  his  profession,  must  look 
to  it  to  satisfy  all  his  tastes  and  his  sense  of  honor.  That 
is  why  handsome  uniforms  are  useful.  A  slight  thing  will 
often  make  men  stand  firm  under  fire,  who  but  for  that 
might  have  given  way.  I  also  wanted  to  have  roads  made 
more  practicable  for  the  passage  of  artillery.  The  fate 
of  a  battle — of  a  country  even — often  depends  on  whether 
artillery  can  get  up  where  it  is  wanted." 

When  the  Emperor  retired  after  this  discourse  on  artil- 
lery, which  he  kept  up  till  one  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
Montholon  remarked:  "His  Majesty  said  many  good 
things,  but  there  were  some  that  I  should  like  to  criticise." 

"Yes,"  said  Gourgaud,  "when  he  talks  of  artillery, 
of  the  ammunition  chest,  those  are  practical  details  that 
he  knows  nothing  about.  He  thinks  our  present  bayonets 
are  too  short,  but  that  is  a  point  to  be  settled,  not  by  a 
general  of  artillery,  but  by  infantry  generals.  The  branch 
of  the  service  the  Emperor  thinks  most  capable  of  form- 
ing good  generals  is  the  infantry,  in  which  a  man  learns 
how  to  direct  the  movement  of  troops,  and  the  choice 
of  positions." 

"When  I  first  ordered  the  lancers  to  wear  cuirasses 
they  rebelled,  but  I  made  them  obey,  and  they  adopted 
them.  It  is  only  necessary  for  a  chief  to  will  it,  and  a 
thing  is  done." 

"The  defence  of  a  convoy  is  always  difficult;  but  the 
enemy  very  often  is  mistaken  as  to  the  force  guarding  a 
convoy  and  thinks  it  is  more  than  it  is.  Mountains  are 
worse  obstacles  in  a  march  than  rivers;  with  artillery  one 
can  always  get  across  a  river;  a  good  bridge  of  boats  can 
be  made  in  three  hours.  It  can  be  begun  in  the  evening, 
and  the  army  can  pass  over  it  in  the  morning." 

"I  should  have  liked  to  establish  a  war  college  at 
Fontainebleau.     I  would  have  appointed  Gérard,  Maison, 


232   TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  HELENA 

and  others  whom  I  wished  to  promote  to  be  its  profes- 
sors.    I  should  soon  have  formed  excellent  generals." 

"We  ojght  to  have  light  iron  cannon  for  mountain 
warfare;  twenty-four-pounders  in  several  pieces,  which 
could  be  carried  on  the  backs  of  mules.  And  in  every 
company  several  short  twenty-four-pounders.  The  absence 
of  these  in  Egypt  lost  me  the  taking  of  Acre." 

"A  great  general  is  no  common  thing.  Of  all  the 
generals  of  the  Revolution  I  know  only  Desaix  and  Hoche, 
who,  had  they  lived,  would  have  become  famous.  Kleber 
was  too  fond  of  pleasure.  He  dishonored  himself  by 
wanting  to  leave  Egypt.  It  has  been  said  that  I  feared 
him.  Ah!  mon  Dieu!  if  I  had  given  him  money  and 
made  him  a  duke,  he  would  have  kissed  my  hand.  Hoche 
was  different.  I  do  not  know  how  he  would  have  acted 
at  the  present  time.  He  had  active  ambition,  and  much 
talent.  I  never  liked  to  take  risks.  I  was  always  saying 
to  myself,  'Let  things  alone,  and  see  what  will  come  of 
them.'  " 

Gourgaud:  "It  seems,  then.  Sire,  that  Hoche  liked 
to  control  circumstances;  Your  Majesty  liked  to  profit  by 
them." 

Napoleon:  "Hoche  was  too  ardent  to  wait  patiently. 
I  think  that,  like  Moreau,  he  might  have  broken  his  head 
against  my  palace  walls.  Moreau  without  his  wife  would 
have  been  on  the  best  terms  with  me,  for  indeed,  in  the 
main,  he  was  an  excellent  man.  However,  he  could  not 
command  more  than  twenty  thousand  men.  That  was 
the  opinion  of  both  Kleber  and  Desaix.  Perhaps  under 
me  he  might  have  improved.  With  forty  thousand  men  I 
should  not  have  feared  Moreau  with  sixty  thousand  nor 
Jourdan  with  a  hundred  thousand.  I  have  just  been 
reading  the  history  of  those  campaigns.  Moreau  did  very 
well.     The  Archduke  Charles  did  well  too;  but  as  for 


THE  ART  OF  WAR  233 

Jourdan — incapacity  could  not  be  carried  further.  Under 
a  good  government  his  head  should  have  been  cut  off  for 
his  retreat  when  he  abandoned  Moreau." 

"War  is  a  singular  art.  I  assure  you  that  I  have  fought 
sixty  battles,  and — well! — I  learned  nothing  but  what  I 
knew  when  I  fought  the  first.  Look  at  Cœsar;  he  fought 
for  the  first  time  as  he  did  the  last.  At  Zama  Scipio  was 
very  near  being  vanquished.  Montesquieu  tells  us  that 
the  greatness  of  the  Romans  hung  on  a  broken  bridge. 
If  Hannibal  had  triumphed  there,  it  would  have  been  all 
over  with  the  Romans — and  all  for  a  bridge  ! 

"A  good  army  ought  to  be  one  in  which  each  officer 
knows  what  he  ought  to  do  according  to  circumstances. 
....  I  do  not  deserve  more  than  half  credit  for  the 
battles  I  have  won.  It  is  enough  for  a  successful  general 
to  be  named  in  connection  with  a  victory,  for  the  fact  is 
it  was  gained  by  his  soldiers." 

The  Emperor  declares  that  at  the  present  day  nations 
make  war  with  rose-water. 

"In  old  times  the  vanquished  were  either  put  to  death 
or  sold  into  slavery,  and  women  were  violated.  If  I  had 
done  that  kind  of  thing  when  I  took  Vienna,  the  Russians 
would  not  so  easily  have  got  to  Paris.  War  is  a  very 
serious  thing." 

The  Emperor  thinks  he  ought  to  have  stayed  a  month 
longer  in  Spain  in  1809,  when  he  might  have  thrown  Sir 
John  Moore  into  the  sea.  The  English  would  have  been 
disheartened,  and  would  have  given  up  interfering  on  the 
Continent. 

"Carnot's  book  is  founded  on  a  false  principle.  He 
argues  on  the  supposition  that  garrisons  are  composed  of 
picked  men,  but  they  are  generally  made  up  of  conscripts, 
invalides,  and  national  guards,  who  would  be  of  no  use  in 
the  open  country,  and  are  of  service  only  behind  walls, 


234   TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

where  they  are  gaining  experience  and  instruction.  If  at 
the  beginning  of  a  siege  the  garrison  makes  sorties,  the 
few  who  are  very  brave  get  killed,  and  the  remainder  are 
a  mere  mob,  with  whom  no  vigorous  action  can  be 
attempted.  Carnot  never  saw  war,  and  his  experience  of 
warfare  had  to  be  acquired.  Strongly  fortified  places  are 
useful  to  contain  supplies,  and  to  contain  soldiers  who  in 
the  open  field  would  be  routed  by  a  few  hussars  ;  but  they 
can  be  trained  into  real  soldiers  during  one  campaign,  after 
which  they  can  act  on  the  offensive,  and  increase  the 
strength  of  the  army.  They  can  harass  the  rear  of  an 
enemy  if  he  is  making  a  forced  march,  and  oblige  him  to 
leave  a  considerable  force  behind  for  his  protection. 
Another  advantage  is  to  shorten  the  line  of  operations. 
When  I  marched  on  Vienna,  Wurtzburg  and  Braunau 
were  of  the  greatest  use  to  me.  If  Vienna  had  held  out, 
that  would  have  changed  my  plan  of  operations;  but  the 
inhabitants  of  a  capital  which  can  be  bombarded  have  a 
great  influence  on  the  question  of  surrender,  or  defence. 
As  soon  as  I  was  master  of  Vienna  eight  or  ten  thousand 
men  were  all  I  wanted  to  hold  it.  I  was  certain  that  the 
enemy  would  not  think  of  destroying  it,  and  the  threat 
made  by  my  garrison  of  burning  the  city  in  case  of  resist- 
ance was  enough  to  intimidate  the  inhabitants." 

"Paris  ought  to  have  been,  and  must  yet  be,  fortified. 
At  the  present  day  armies  are  so  large  that  the  strong- 
holds on  our  frontier  would  not  stop  a  victorious  army. 
It  is  a  great  stroke  for  an  enemy  flushed  with  recent  vic- 
tory to  march  on  a  capital  and  take  possession  of  it.  But 
when  Paris  is  fortified,  the  extent  of  its  walls  ought  to  be 
such  that  it  need  not  fear  bombardment.  I  always 
intended  to  do  this,  and  I  meant  to  fortify  Montmartre, 
or  some  point  on  the  Seine,  which  Vincennes  does  not 
command,  like  the  Arche  de  l'Étoile.  But  I  was  always 
restrained  by  the  fear  that   my  fortifications  would  be 


THE  ART  OF  WAR  235 

unpopular  with  the  Parisians,  who  would  have  been  sure 
to  see  in  my  redoubts  and  strongholds,  so  many  Bastilles. 
I  spoke  of  my  intention  to  Fontaine,  and  the  Arch  of 
Triumph  was  to  be  so  constructed  as  to  have  a  platform 
on  the  top  of  it,  furnished  with  cannon,  which  would  have 
a  long  range  and  would  flank  Montmartre.  They  would 
have  served  as  a  support  to  other  defensive  works  erected 
in  the  vicinity.  I  should  have  liked  to  build  at  Mont- 
martre a  Temple  to  Victory.  It  would  (like  the  arch) 
have  had  a  platform  on  which  we  should  have  mounted 
cannon,  and  would  have  secured  that  important  point.  A 
few  batteries  of  twenty-four-pounders  below  it  would  have 
produced  a  great  effect.  It  is  a  grave  fault  in  the  present 
system  to  give  up  capitals. 

"In  addition,  France  ought  to  have  a  strongly  fortified 
position  on  the  Loire,  somewhere  near  Tours.  It  is 
absurd  to  have  all  depots,  and  all  factories  that  make 
arms  close  on  the  frontier,  exposed  to  be  cut  off  as  soon 

as  an  enemy  enters  on  an  active  campaign I  am 

in  favor  of  counterscarps." 

"Camot  always  was  self-opinionated.  He  was  not  a 
good  engineer,  nor  could  he  draw  up  plans  for  active  oper- 
ations like  a  good  general;  but  he  was  an  honest  man, 
and  very  industrious.  Such  qualities  are  sure  to  make  a 
reputation." 

"I  highly  value  a  good  captain  of  artillery  who  knows 
how  to  select  the  best  spot  on  which  to  place  his  guns, 
and  is  brave.  I  prefer  him  to  all  men  who  only  superin- 
tend workmen;  he  knows  what  fire  is,  and  cannot  be  bought 
over.  I  have  the  same  opinion  of  engineer  officers.  The 
best  one  is  a  man  who  has  had  experience  in  sieges,  in 
the  defense  of  strongholds,  and  knows  how  to  adapt  the 
kind  of  fortifications  he  wants  to  the  face  of  the  country. 
I  am  certain  Haxo  or  Roguet  would  have  constructed  a 


236  TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

fortified  post  better  than  Fontaine.     Haxo  and  Roguet 
are  men  of  war;  Fontaine  is  a  mere  builder. 

"The  noblest  man  is  he  who  goes  straight  into  the 
front  of  fire.  War  can  be  taught  only  by  experience. 
Carnot  would  never  have  written  a  book  about  his  system 
if  he  had  known  the  effect  of  a  bullet.  I  would  rather 
marry  a  daughter  of  mine  to  a  good  soldier  who  could 
fight,  than  to  any  head  of  any  bureau  in  the  War  Depart- 
ment. If  an  official  fails,  he  never  recovers  himself  unless 
he  goes  into  the  midst  of  war  and  danger.  Then  he  may 
learn  how  to  make  plans." 

"I  was  fond  of  Murat  because  of  his  brilliant  bravery; 
that  was  why  I  forgave  him  many  foolish  things.  Bes- 
sières  was  a  cavalry  officer,  but  somewhat  frigid;  he  lacked 
what  Murat  had  too  much  of.  Ney  was  a  man  of  rare 
bravery.  Lefebvre  at  the  siege  of  Dantzic  wrote  me  at 
first  all  kinds  of  nonsense,  but  as  soon  as  the  Russians 
disembarked  he  was  in  his  own  element,  and  his  reports 
became  those  of  a  man  who  sees  things  clearly.  In 
France  there  is  never  any  lack  of  men  of  talent,  men  who 
can  make  plans,  but  we  never  have  enough  men  of  action, 
and  high  character — men  who  have  in  them  the  sacred 
fire." 

"Don't  you  think  more  highly  of  Nelson  than  of  any 
experienced  naval  constructor.''  What  Nelson  had,  which 
raised  him  above  naval  constructors,  he  did  not  acquire, 
it  was  a  gift  from  nature.  I  grant,  of  course,  that  a 
good  director  of  transportation  may  be  very  useful,  but  I 
do  not  like  to  reward  him  as  I  do  a  man  who  has  shed  his 
blood.  For  instance,  I  very  reluctantly  made  Evain  a 
general  of  artillery.  I  cannot  bear  an  officer  who  owes 
his  rank  to  having  worked  well  in  an  office.  I  know,  of 
course,  that  we  must  occasionally  have  generals  who  never 
saw  powder  burned,  but  I  do  not  like  them." 


THE  ART  OF  WAR  237 

"General  ofiEicers  are  too  well  paid  in  France;  they 
ought  not  to  look  for  allowances.  I  very  much  approve 
the  state  of  things  in  the  English  army  where  all  the  offi- 
cers in  a  regiment  share  the  same  mess.  The  Romans 
gave  each  general  only  four  times  as  much  as  a  common 

soldier It  should  be  no  easy  matter  for  a  soldier 

to  rise  from  the  ranks  and  to  become  an  officer.  Young 
men  fresh  from  the  military  schools  with  allowances  from 
their  families  ought  to  be  the  first  to  claim  the  epaulette. 
In  France  officers  are  not  treated  with  enough  considera- 
tion. Those  in  my  Guard  were  seldom  well  educated, 
but  they  suited  my  system.  They  were  all  tried  soldiers, 
descended  from  peasants,  laborers,  and  artisans.  Society 
in  Paris  had  no  influence  over  them;  they  depended  on 
me  entirely.  I  held  them  more  firmly,  and  was  more  sure 
of  their  obedience  than  I  should  have  been  of  men  better 
nurtured  and  better  educated.  But  in  a  government  fully 
established,  one-fourth  or  one-fifth  of  the  commissions  is 
quite  enough  to  give  to  men  who  have  risen  from  the 
ranks." 

"In  time  of  war  we  make  no  especial  provision  for  the 
feeding  of  our  officers.  They  are  at  the  mercy  of  their 
soldiers.  Things  ought  to  be  done  with  order.  Officers 
in  war  as  well  as  in  peace  ought  to  have  their  own  pur- 
veyors and  eat  in  common. 

"We  give  too  much  bread  to  our  soldiers.  Bread 
should  be  supplemented  by  rice  and  meat.  There  is 
nothing  a  man's  palate  cannot  become  accustomed  to  in 
time." 

"War  in  the  days  of  Vendôme  and  of  Villars  (1702) 
was  made  very  differently  from  what  it  is  now.  Armies 
are  not  organized  now  as  they  were  then.  They  had  not 
so  much  artillery.  Our  present  organization  into  divis- 
ions is  excellent." 


238   TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  HELENA 

"Other  nations  have  never  got  all  they  might  have  got 
out  of  their  cavalry,  which  is  an  extremely  useful  branch  of 
the  service.  Just  see,  at  Nangis  and  at  Vauchamps  what 
I  did  with  mine!  At  Lutzen,  if  the  enemy  had  massed 
his  infantiy  upon  his  left,  and  making  a  gap,  had  come 
down  upon  our  rear,  what  disorder  would  have  taken 
place  then."  * 

"No  general  should  be  actively  employed  who  is  more 
than  sixty  years  of  age.  Honorable  positions  should  be 
given  them,  but  positions  in  which  there  is  little  or  noth- 
ing to  do.  I  made  a  mistake  when  I  nominated  old  men 
as  senators.  The  members  of  the  electoral  colleges  were 
not  in  touch  with  the  people.  The  peasants,  when  they 
speak  of  a  man  who  is  sixty,  call  him  'Father'  so  and 
so." 

"England  wanted  to  keep  our  good  sailors  prisoners 
of  war,  and  to  give  us  only  the  sick  and  unserviceable, 
and  she  expected  I  should  give  her  in  return  all  the  prison- 
ers I  had  been  able  to  take.  I  offered  to  send  back  three 
thousand  men  for  three  thousand — that  is  to  say,  one 
thousand  Englishmen,  one  thousand  Spaniards,  and  one 
thousand  officers  in  exchange  for  so  many  Frenchmen. 
But  this  cartel  of  exchange  was  refused." 

"In  France  general  officers  are  too  highly  paid;  pri- 
vate soldiers  ought  to  be  better  treated.  A  sergeant  ought 
to  have  one  and  a  half  times  the  pay  of  a  soldier,  a  second 
lieutenant  twice,  a  lieutenant  three  times,  a  captain  four, 

'  There  was  a  discussion  between  the  Emperor  and  the  three  officers,  com- 
panions of  his  exile,  on  the  use  of  mules  in  an  army.  None  of  them  made  any 
allusion  to  the  liability  of  mules  to  stampede,  which  has  caused  disasters  in  our 
modern  warfare.  Gourgaud  objects  to  pack  mules,  and  prefers  very  light  two- 
wheeled  caissons,  like  those  in  the  Russian  army,  to  transport  ammunition. 
They  next  proceeded  to  discuss  material  for  a  chevaux-de-fri.se  to  be  carried 
by  soldiers;  and  iron  pipes  to  be  carried  by  mules,  to  supply  water  with  the 
help  of  pumps  to  besieged  places.  On  these  subjects  they  agreed  so  well  that 
the  talk  ended  in  good  humor,  and  the  Emperor  gave  Gourgaud  an  orange.— 
E.  W.  L. 


THE  ART  OF  WAR  239 

a  colonel  six,  a  brigadier-general  eight,  a  general  of  divis- 
ion ten.  We  ought  to  do  like  the  Spartans,  and  make  the 
generals  mess  with  their  men." 

"Drouot  is  our  best  living  officer  of  artillery.  The 
engineers  ought  not  to  be  joined  with  the  artillery,  but  to 
have  their  own  sappers  and  pontoniers." 

"A  battalion  ought  always  to  have  its  flanks  protected 
by  a  half  company,  ranged  along  each  side  of  it." 

"Bertrand  is  the  best  engineer  officer  in  Europe." 

"A  battalion  of  infantry  that  had  its  first  rank  armed 
with  pikes  would  be  invincible  against  a  charge  of 
cavalry.  When  fired  at  too  close  range,  a  cannon-ball 
loses  half  its  force,  but  I  greatly  esteem  la  mitraille." 

"I  should  like  to  do  away  with  caissons  and  let  every 
cannon  carry  a  chestful  of  skin  bags,  each  containing  a 
charge." 

"I  think  that  men  in  the  second  rank  of  infantry  ought 
to  have  longer  guns  than  those  in  front.  Their  present 
bayonets  are  too  short.  The  third  rank  ought  to  be  pro- 
vided with  galoshes  half  a  foot  high." 

"There  should  be  three  ranks  in  the  infantry:  the  first, 
of  the  shortest  men,  armed  with  carbines;  in  the  second, 
men  of  the  ordinary  size,  carrying  muskets  of  the  model 
of  1777;  in  the  third,  the  tallest  soldiers,  made  five  feet 
six  inches,*  by  means  of  galoshes  of  felt.  Their  guns 
should  have  barrels  forty-six  inches  long."  ^ 

*  French  measure.  Their  foot  and  their  inch  are  longer  than  ours.  Mait- 
land  says  the  Emperor's  height  was  five  feet  five  inches. 

*  Gourgaud  in  vain  raises  objections  to  the  three  different  kinds  of  weapoa 
He  speaks  of  the  difficulty  of  balancing  so  long  a  gun,  the  ramrod,  etc. 
Gourgaud,  who  was  an  experienced  infantry  and  artillery  officer,  evidently 
thought  that  the  Emperor,  so  great  as  the  commander  of  an  army,  knew  prac- 
tically very  little  of  small  details. 


240  TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  HELENA 

"I  wish  for  no  official  administrators,  no  writers,  no 
reporters  with  the  army.  Each  battahon  ought  to  be  so 
ordered  that  it  can  work  separately  ;  it  ought  to  have  its 
drummers,  surgeons,  musicians,  and  artisans.  It  ought 
to  administer  itself,  and  correspond  with  an  official  at 
headquarters,  who  should  have  sixteen  battalions  under 
his  charge.  The  cuirassiers  and  the  hussars  should  be 
looked  after  by  their  colonel-general.  Each  battalion 
should  have  six  companies,  one  of  which  should  be  grena- 
diers and  another  voltigeurs.  At  the  beginning  of  a  cam- 
paign two  battalions,  each  containing  nine  hundred  men, 
may  be  formed  of  these  four  companies — three  only  later 
on,  one  of  the  three  having  been  drafted  into  the  others, 
and  so  keep  up  two  battaHons  of  five  hundred  and  forty 
men  each.  What  would  then  become  of  the  officers,-' 
They  would  take  command  of  the  recruits.  I  want  my 
infantry  to  be  like  a  corps  of  artillery;  their  colonel  would 
then  be  like  a  brigade  general,  the  commander  of  a  battal- 
ion like  the  colonel. 

"I  should  give  officers  in  a  campaign  no  allowance  for 
food  and  no  forage.  The  pay  would  be  fixed  for  each 
grade.  A  portable  mill  to  grind  corn  should  be  carried 
by  each  company,  and  bits  of  sheet  iron  on  which  the 
men  could  bake  cakes — no  loaf  bread.  The  men  should 
be  fed  in  peace  as  they  are  in  war.  There  should  be  a 
corps  of  guides  or  orderlies  for  staff  service.  At  the 
War  Department  no  commissaries  of  war;  their  duties 
can  be  done  by  the  sub-prefects.  The  Minister  of  War 
would  only  have  to  correspond  with  about  twenty-five 
commissaries  or  colonels-general,  which  would  make  a 
great  saving  in  the  expenses."  ' 

"Rice  is  the  best  food  for  the  soldier.^     A  few  mules 

'  Gourgaud  raised  objections  to  all  this,  and  the  Emperor  got  angry. 

^  His  Majesty  causes  the  cook  to  make  a  galette  (a  sort  of  pone)  of  four 
ounces  of  fiour  and  four  ounces  of  rice,  and  has  it  brought  that  he  may  eat  it 
on  the  morrow. 


THE  ART  OF  WAR  241 

can  carry  rice  enough  to  feed  a  battalion  for  a  fortnight. 
The  artillery  would  march  better  if  it  had  no  caissons. 
Mules  could  carry  the  ammunition  instead.  Every  battal- 
ion might  have  two  mules,  each  of  which  could  carry  two 
thousand  five  hundred  cartridges. 

"In  mountain  warfare  I  like  twelve-pounders,  but 
Gassendi  does  not.  If  I  had  had  short  twenty-four- 
pounders  in  Egypt,  I  should  have  taken  Acre." 

His  Majesty  thinks  that  should  he  write  the  history  of 
his  campaigns,  it  would  be  an  admirable  work  for  the 
instruction  of  generals,  but  it  would  not  do  to  have  it 
published.  "Without  speaking  of  great  principles  I 
would  criticise  every  campaign,  give  the  reasons  for  and 
against  every  movement,  and  the  reader  could  instruct 
himself  by  reflecting  on  what  was  said.  It  is  really 
astonishing  that  during  the  Revolution  so  many  follies 
were  committed  by  the  generals.  Championnet  acted 
without  good  sense  always." 

"I  assure  you  that  I  had  not  read  Jomini's  book  when 
I  made  the  campaigns  of  Ulm,  AusterHtz,  and  Jena;  but 
it  is  really  astonishing  to  see  how  I  acted  according  to  his 
counsels.  A  battle  is  a  very  serious  matter,  and  its  suc- 
cess or  its  loss  may  depend  on  a  very  little  thing — on  a 
hare,  for  example.  One  always  runs  great  risks  in  giving 
battle,  and  one  must  never  take  them  rashly,  unless  one 
is  forced  to  do  so,  when  the  enemy  has  cut  your  line  of 
operations.  You  must  never  attempt  a  movement  of 
reunion  in  the  presence  of  an  enemy.  The  art  of  war 
does  not  require  complicated  manœuvres;  the  most 
simple  are  the  best.  Above  all,  a  general  must  have 
good  sense.  By  that  rule  one  cannot  understand  how 
generals  have  committed  so  many  faults;  it  must  have 
been  because  they  wished  to  show  how  clever  they  were. 
The  most  diflScult  thing  is  to  guess  at  the  projects  of  the 


242   TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  I/ELENA 

enemy,  and  to  find  out  what  is  true  and  what  is  false  in 
the  reports  that  one  receives.  The  rest  requires  only- 
common  sense;  it  is  like  an  encounter  at  fisticuffs, — the 
more  blows  one  can  put  in  the  better.  It  is  also  neces- 
sary to  have  well  studied  the  maps."  ' 

'  Gourgaud,  in  other  discussions  with  the  Emperor,  reports  his  master  as 
saying  that  he  wanted  to  do  away  altogether  with  ammunition  wagons.  "In 
his  scheme  for  reorganizing  the  army  he  thinks  the  soldiers  ought  to  make 
and  mend  their  own  clothes  and  their  own  shoes,  shoe  their  horses,  etc.  Grain 
would  be  served  out  to  them,  and  they  should  make  their  own  bread.  Artillery- 
men should  be  both  cannoniers  and  soldiers  of  the  line.  Officers  are  paid  too 
much,  and  soldiers  too  little.  Management  and  commissariat  should  consist 
solely  of  soldiers." 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

ANECDOTES    AND    MISCELLANEOUS 
SAYINGS. 

"I  grieve  for  the  loss  of  the  battle  of  Waterloo;  not 
for  myself,  but  for  our  unhappy  France." 

"If  the  Jacobins  get  the  upper  hand  in  Europe,  I  may 
be  called  back,  for  there  is  no  one  but  myself  who  can 
put  them  down.  There  are  many  chances  that  Jacobin- 
ism may  grow  formidable,  for  I  observe  there  are  many 
secret  societies  at  work  in  Europe.  Deliberative  bodies 
are  terrible  things  for  a  sovereign.  I  see  they  are  likely 
to  be  established  in  Prussia,  where  the  king  is  a  fool.  He 
plays  the  liberal,  and  promises  a  parliament!  He  will 
soon  see  what  that  will  cost  him!     In  England  I  have 

great   hopes    from    Princess    Charlotte Belgium 

and  the  Rhine  provinces  are  integral  parts  of  France; 
they  are  hoping  for  a  change." 

"Ah!  I  know  the  English!  You  may  be  sure  that 
the  sentinels  stationed  round  this  house  have  orders  from 
the  Governor  to  kill  me.  They  will  pretend  to  give  me  a 
thrust  with  a  bayonet  by  mistake  some  day." 

"The  King  of  Wiirtemberg  wrote  me  that  he  would 
declare  for  me  as  soon  as  he  was  able.  He  often  said 
harsh  things  to  me  about  the  English." 

"Posterity  will  not  fail  to  reproach  England  for  having 
left  me  two  months  at  the  Briars,  in  an  ill-furnished  room, 
without  even  the  convenience  of  taking  my  accustomed 
baths." 

343 


244    TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  HELENA 
"I  cannot  bear  red.     It  is  the  color  of  England." 

"Rousseau  was  a  strange  man.  In  the  'Nouvelle 
Héloïse'  the  trials  of  the  husband  are  nonsense;  and 
there  is  nothing  remarkable  in  the  style.  Look  at  the 
suicide's  letter!  It  is  a  coward's  part  to  kill  one's  self." 
The  Emperor  added  that  a  man  cannot  know  but  that 
he  would  repent  the  step  if  he  outlived  it,  and  that  many 
men  intending  to  commit  suicide  have  only  wounded 
themselves,  and  afterwards  have  felt  that  the  resolution  to 
commit  suicide  had  been  absurd.' 

His  Majesty  told  us  that  when  he  came  back  to  Paris 
after  his  campaign  in  Italy,  Madame  de  Stâel  did  everything 
she  could  to  propitiate  him.  She  even  came  to  the  Rue 
Chantereine,  but  was  sent  away.  She  wrote  him  a  great 
many  letters,  some  from  Italy,  some  in  Paris.  She  also 
asked  him  to  a  ball,  but  he  did  not  go.  At  a  fête  given 
by  Talleyrand,  she  came  and  sat  down  beside  him  and 
talked  to  him  for  two  hours  ;  finally,  she  suddenly  asked 
him,  "Who  was  the  most  superior  woman  in  antiquity, 
and  who  is  so  at  the  present  day?"  He  answered,  "She 
who  has  borne  the  most  children." 

The  Emperor  told  us  that  Berthier  wanted  to  leave 
Egypt  before  we  made  our  expedition  into  Syria.  He 
wanted  to  get  back  to  France  that  he  might  hang  round 
Madame  Visconti.  But  after  having  made  all  arrange- 
ments for  his  departure  and  received  permission  from  the 
Directory,  he  found  that  His  Majesty  blamed  his  conduct 
so  much  that  he  came  and  asked  as  a  favor  not  to  be 
allowed  to  go.  Every  night  at  a  certain  hour  he  looked 
at  the  moon,  and  his  lady-love  at  the  same  moment  looked 
at  it  also.     He  had  a  separate  tent,  in  which  he  hung  up 

'  Napoleon's  remarks  on  suicide  prove  that  the  current  story  that  he  took 
poison  at  Fontainebleau  after  his  tirst  abdication  must  be  untrue.  He  proba- 
bly had  a  severe  attack  of  illness  at  Fontainebleau  from  overstrain  of  body  and 
mind,  as  he  had  had  before  at  Dresden.— i;.  W.  L. 


J/.  I RSH.  U.    A/.  I  SSEA'.l 


MISCELLANEOUS  SAYINGS  245 

her  portrait  and  adorned  it  with  all  manner  of  draperies, 
and  cashmere  shawls  of  great  value.  Berthier  and 
Napoleon,  as  Commander-in-chief,  were  the  only  men 
allowed  to  enter  this  tent.  Napoleon  once  gave  him  a 
diamond  worth  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  francs, 
advising  him  to  take  good  care  of  it.  Some  time  after- 
wards Josephine  spoke  to  her  husband  of  Madame  Vis- 
conti's  beautiful  diamond.  He  asked  Madame  Visconti 
to  let  him  see  it,  and  at  once  recognized  the  diamond  he 
had  given  to  Berthier. 

"I  owed  my  connection  with  Madame  Walewska  to 
Talleyrand.'" 

"If  I  had  had  Bessières  at  Waterloo  my  Guard  would 
have  decided  the  victory." 

Napoleon  said  that  Ney  at  his  trial  should  have  an- 
swered: "The  Treaty  of  Paris  protects  me;  but  kill  me 
if  you  like." 

"If  I  myself  had  been  arrested  I  should  have  merely 
said:  'I  am  not  accountable  to  you  for  anything.  You 
cannot  try  me  legally.  You  can  kill  me  if  you  think 
proper.'  " 

"It  needs  more  courage  to  suffer  than  to  die." 

"I  am  reproached  with  Waterloo I  ought  to 

have  died  at  the  battle  of  the  Moskwa."    [Borodino.] 

>  Napoleon  was  very  fond  of  discussing  his  "  bonnes  fortunes"  with  Gour- 
gaud;  and  made  no  secret  of  the  names  of  the  women  they  concerned.  He 
insisted,  however,  that  he  had  had  only  six  or  seven  mistresses.  1  have  not 
thought  it  necessary  to  copy  such  conversations,  but  the  sad  history  of  Madame 
Walewska  deserves  to  be  told.  She  was  intensely  patriotic  and  the  wife  of  a 
nobleman  who  was  also  devoted  to  the  Polish  cause.  Both  husband  and  wife 
and  the  brothers  of  Madame  Walewska  thought  that  the  influence  of  a  woman 
he  loved  would  attach  Napoleon  firmly  to  the  cause  of  Poland.  Madame 
Walewska  sacrificed  her  honor  for  the  good  of  her  country.  She  was  very 
faithful  to  Napoleon.  She  offered  to  join  him  at  Elba.  She  bore  him  two  chil- 
dren. One  was  the  M.  Walewski,  who  was  sent  over  to  England  by  the  Emperor 
Napoleon  111.  to  attend  the  funeral  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington.  He  was  also 
Freach  Ambassador  in  London  and  greatly  esteemed  there.— .£.  W,  L. 


246  TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  HELENA 

After  reading  over  his  bulletins  and  his  proclamations 
in  Egypt,  the  Emperor  remarked:  "C'est  un  peu 
charlatan!" 

An  English  frigate,  commanded  by  Captain  Bowen,  a 
relative  of  Lord  St.  Vincent,  came  into  Jamestown,  the 
port  of  St.  Helena.  Captain  Bowen  obtained  leave  to 
see  the  Emperor,  who  received  him  very  graciously. 
Learning  that  he  was  likely  to  see  Lord  St.  Vincent  in 
England,  Napoleon  said:  "Make  him  my  compliments  as 
a  good  sailor,  and  a  good  soldier.  He  is  a  brave,  good 
man." 

"There  is  little  generosity  in  humiliating  generals 
delivered  over,  without  means  of  self-defence,  to  your 
discretion." 

"After  I  reached  Moscow  I  should  have  died  there."  ' 

"Josephine  would   never  have  accepted    Madame  de 

Montebello  for  her  dame  d'honneur,     I  should  have  done 

much  better  had  I  married  a  Frenchwoman,  and  not  an 

Austrian." 

"Madame  de  Brignole  came  very  near  marrying 
Lebrun,  who  was  in  love  with  her.  I  should  have  had 
nothing  to  say  against  it.  But  his  son  came  and  spoke 
to  me  about  it,  as  if  his  father  had  not  the  right  to  do 
what  he  pleased.  Madame  de  Brignole  was  a  clever 
woman,  but  though  she  was  no  longer  young,  she  liked 
to  try  the  power  of  her  charms.  Once  at  Versailles  I 
made  her  drive  in  my  calèche,  that  she  might  talk  of 
Genoa  before  the  Empress,  and  Madame  de  Brignole 
fancied  I  was  falling  in  love  with  her.     I  saw  it  plainly." 

"One  night  at  the  Trianon  I  went  at  midnight  into  the 
salon  de  service  [the  antechamber  where  those  who  might 

•  "  1  think  so,  too,"  says  Gourgaud.  "  The  Emperor  should  have  died  at 
Moscow,  or  at  Waterloo,  for  the  campaign  of  Dresden  was  in  no  respect 
extraordinary;  but  the  return  from  Elba  was  one  of  the  most  astonishing 
things  ever  done." 


MISCELLANEOUS  SAYINGS  247 

be  needed  in  the  night  waited].  There  I  was  astonished 
to  see  Monsieur  de  Viry  sitting  asleep.  I  talked  to  him 
in  the  gallery,  and  said:  ''Pardieu!  Monsieur  de  Viry, 
you  must  have  a  great  sense  of  duty  to  stay  here  all  night 
at  your  age,  to  keep  awake,  and  to  be  ready  for  any 
summons.' 

"Then  Monsieur  de  Viry  made  me  a  very  sufficient 
answer.  'It  is  the  only  enjoyment  I  can  have  at  my  age. 
If  I  were  to  go  to  the  theatre  I  should  see  old  love  stories, 
but  here  I  see  new  ones.  Here  I  am  able  to  do  some 
service  to  others.  I  think  I  am  useful  to  some  people. 
When  I  go  home  my  friends  are  anxious  to  see  me. 
They  think  that  I  can  do  much  for  them,  and  in  fact,  I 
have  helped  some  and  may  yet  help  others.  Instead  of 
which,  if  I  were  not  at  court  I  should  die  of  ennui,  and 
be  good  for  nothing — no  use  to  anybody.  I  had  rather 
sit  up  till  two  o'clock  in  the  morning.' 

"This  Monsieur  de  Viry  was  an  excellent  man." 

"I  never  saw  any  passion  like  that  of  Berthier  for 
Madame  Visconti.  In  Egypt  he  looked  at  the  moon  every 
night  at  the  same  time  she  did.  In  the  middle  of  the 
desert  a  tent  was  set  apart  for  the  picture  of  Madame 
Visconti.  He  burned  perfumes  before  it.  Three  mules 
were  employed  to  carry  this  tent  and  its  baggage.  I  often 
went  into  it,  and  would  sit  down  with  my  boots  on  on  its 
sofa.  Berthier  would  be  furious  at  this.  He  thought  I 
was  profaning  his  sanctuary.  He  loved  her  so  much 
that  he  was  always  trying  to  make  me  talk  of  her,  though 
I  never  said  anything  but  what  was  disparaging.  He 
wanted  to  leave  the  army  to  go  back  to  her.  I  had 
written  my  dispatches,  he  had  taken  leave  of  me,  and  had 
received  his  leave  of  absence,  when  he  came  to  me  with 
tears  in  his  eyes  and  asked  to  stay.  If  I  had  left  him  to 
succeed  me  as  commander-in-chief  in  Egypt  he  would 
have  evacuated  the  country.     After  the  battle  of  Marengo 


248   TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  HELENA 

he  drew  up  a  report  in  which  Soprani  was  mentioned  five 
times.  Soprani  was  Madame  de  Visconti's  son,  a  young 
officer  only  sixteen,  and  Berthier  attributed  to  him  the 
gaining  of  the  battle.  Soprani  did  this,  and  Soprani  did 
that,  he  wrote;  and  it  was  all  to  gratify  Madame  Visconti. 
Two  months  after  his  marriage  with  a  princess  of  Bavaria, 
a  marriage  which  had  been  brought  about  by  Monsieur 
Visconti,  he  came  to  me  in  great  agitation:  'He  is  dead!' 
he  cried.  'Who  is  dead?'  'Her  husband.'  'Who  is 
dead,  I  asked  you.'  'Monsieur  Visconti.  I  have  just 
missed  my  happiness!  Why  have  I  been  married?' — and 
all  such  nonsense!  She  was  very  sad  too.  'Ah!  if  he 
had  only  died  three  months  earlier!' 

"Berthier  had  been  fond  of  the  Bourbons  from  the  days 
of  his  youth.  He  had  once  served  them,  I  used  to  tell 
him  that  he  was  only  a  valet  de  Versailles!'' 

"I  was  at  first  no  admirer  of  the  acting  of  Mademoi- 
selle Mars,  when  she  tried  to  play  the  part  of  great 
coquettes,  but  after  having  seen  her  frequently  at  the 
theatre  I  changed  my  opinion  of  her  entirely.  I  do  not 
think  any  one  could  act  better.  She  was  a  model  of  refine- 
ment and  good  taste,  and  government  ought  to  patronize 
such  actresses,  to  propagate  an  appreciation  of  good 
manners." 

"Eh!  mon  Dieu,  Berthier  and  Marmont,  whom  I  had 
overwhelmed  with  favor  and  kindness,  how  they  have 
behaved  to  me!  I  defy  anybody  to  impose  on  me  again. 
Men  must  be  very  scoundrelly  to  be  as  bad  as  I  conceive 
them.  And  do  you  suppose  that  Drouot,  who  always 
wanted  to  serve  in  the  batteries  where  there  was  the  most 
danger,  did  it  for  love  of  me?  He  did  it  that  men  might 
talk  of  him." 

"You  have  a  glorious  future  before  you,  Gourgaud. 
The  only  person  who  has  the  right  to  be  unhappy  here  is 


MISCELLANEOUS  SAYINGS  249 

myself.  To  have  fallen  from  such  a  height  !  And  now  I 
cannot,  like  you,  take  a  walk,  as  I  will  not  be  escorted  by 
an  English  officer.  Everything  I  do  is  spied  upon.  You 
are  all  secretly  at  feud  with  one  another.'  You  are  all 
bragging  and  boasting.  You  have  no  consideration  for 
me.  What  right  has  any  one  to  hinder  my  seeing  this  or 
that  person.-*  Why  should  any  of  you  interfere  in  my 
affairs?  ....  You  all  fancied  when  you  came  here 
that  you  were  to  be  my  comrades.  I  am  no  man's  com- 
rade. No  one  can  reign  over  me.  You  expected  to  be 
the  centre  here  of  everything,  like  the  sun  among  the 
stars.  It  is  I  who  am  that  centre.  You  have  caused  me 
many  annoyances  since  I  came  here.  If  I  had  known 
how  it  would  be,  I  would  have  brought  only  servants.  I 
can  live  well  enough  alone.  When  one  gets  too  tired  of 
life  a  sudden  stab  with  a  sharp  dagger  is  soon  given." 

"I  have  a  tender  remembrance  of  the  young  girls  who 
were  chosen  in  all  the  cities  of  France  to  present  me 
flowers.  The  Empress  always  offered  them  some  gift, 
and  I  paid  them  compliments,  by  which  they  were 
extremely  flattered,  and  their  little  heads  grew  full  of 
enthusiasm  for  me.  At  Amiens  one  of  these  girls,  who 
on  a  previous  occasion  had  presented  me  with  flowers, 
sprang  forward,  exclaiming,  'Ah,  Sire,  how  much  I  love 
you!'  I  asked  the  Prefect  afterwards  about  this  young 
person.  He  told  me  that  she  had  been  almost  beside  her- 
self on  this  subject,  ever  since  I  had  last  passed  through 
Amiens.  To  make  some  return  to  the  inhabitants  I  said  to 
her  father  and  mother  that  I  was  very  much  pleased  with 
the  love  they  bore  me,  and  that  children  always  followed 
the  example  of  their  parents.  Had  I  wanted  a  seraglio 
I  might  easily  have  formed  one  out  of  these  young 
girls." 

•  All  this  was  especially  addressed  to  Gourgaud,  who  was  jealous  both  of 
Las  Cases  and  Montbolon. 


250  TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  //ELENA 

"So  the  English  have  attacked  Algiers.'  It  seems 
that  those  Mohammedans,  like  fools,  let  the  English  ships 
come  up  to  the  anchorage  within  half  cannon-shot  of  the 
forts,  without  firing  on  them,  and  I  cannot  believe  that  the 
English  have  killed  or  wounded  eight  thousand  Algerines. 
The  English  navy,  too,  must  have  lost  many  men,  whilst 
one  man-of-war,  two  frigates,  and  seven  or  eight  cor- 
vettes stationed  before  Algiers  would  have  completely 
blockaded  it,  and  have  produced  the  same  result  without 
bloodshed.  I  cannot  understand  why  the  King  of  Naples 
did  not  take  part  in  that  expedition.  To  be  sure  he  has 
a  miserable  navy.  As  for  Genoa,  it  was  unpardonable. 
Genoa  has  thirty  thousand  excellent  sailors." 

"When  I  was  a  young  lieutenant  in  the  artillery  I 
lodged  in  the  house  of  Marmont's  father.  He  was  an 
excellent  man.  He  would  have  died  of  grief  if  he  had 
been  living  at  the  time  of  his  son's  treachery  to  me." 

The  Emperor  had  been  reading  over  several  French 
grammars,  and  found  no  order  or  method  in  them.  He 
regretted  that  he  did  not  set  learned  men  the  task  of  re- 
forming French  grammar,  so  as  to  diminish  the  number 
of  exceptions  to  the  rules.  Why  cannot  fiava/  be  navaux 
in  the  plural?  And  when  two  substantives  are  followed 
by  an  adjective,  the  adjective  ought  surely  to  take  the 
gender  of  the  last.  He  added,  "The  French  language 
is  not  yet  complete.     I  ought  to  have  made  it  so." 

Gourgaud  says  "No,"  and  instances  un  homme  et  une 
femme  bonne.  One  ought  to  say  un  homme  et  une  femme 
bons.  The  Emperor  gets  put  out,  and  thinks  Madame  de 
Sévigné  was  right  in  saying  '"''Je  la  suis.'" 

His  Majesty  assures  us  he  could  have  lived  very  well 

in  France  on  twelve  francs  a  day.     He  could  have  dined 

for  thirty  sous,  and  haunted  literary  men  and  publishers 

>  This  was  an  expedition  undertaken  in  181Ô  by  Christian  nations  against 
the  pirates  of  Algiers, 


MISCELLANEOUS  SAYINGS  251 

and  libraries,  and  have  gone  to  the  parquet  of  the  theatres. 
And  a  louis  (twenty-four  francs)  a  month  would  have  paid 
for  his  lodging.  "Oh!  but  I  should  have  had  to  have  a 
servant.  I  am  too  much  accustomed  to  one;  I  could  not 
dress  myself.  I  could  have  had  a  very  pleasant  time  keeping 
company  with  persons  whose  means  were  about  the  same 
as  my  own.  Ah!  mon  Dieu!  all  men  have  about  the 
same  proportion  of  happiness.  Assuredly  I  was  not  born 
to  be  what  I  have  become.  Well!  I  should  have  been  as 
happy  had  I  remained  Monsieur  Bonaparte  as  I  have 
been  as  the  Emperor  Napoleon.  Workingmen  are  as 
happy  as  other  people.  Everything  is  relative.  I  never 
found  any  real  pleasure  in  good  eating,  because  my  table 
has  been  always  good;  but  a  poor  fellow  who  never  dines 
as  well  as  I  do,  may  be  more  happy  than  I  am  over  his 
plate  of  soup  and  a  roast  goose.  At  any  rate,  his  life  is 
more  happy  than  the  life  we  are  now  leading  at  St. 
Helena. 

**I  approve  of  that  man  who  we  are  told  put  his 
money  into  a  strong  box,  and  spent  a  certain  portion  of  it 
every  day.  Yes,  with  a  louis  a  day  one  ought  to  be 
happy.  All  that  would  be  necessary  would  be  to  limit 
one's  wishes." 

His  Majesty  added  that  after  he  left  Italy  he  dined 
with  the  Directors  and  the  Ministers,  except  Prony,  but 
he  dined  with  him  once  in  company  with  Laplace. 

"Well!  all  those  men  were  happy.  They  formed  a 
little  coterie  of  literary  men;  the  richest  among  them 
had  not  more  than  twelve  hundred  livres  a  year.  And, 
if  I  could  do  so  incognito,^  I  would  travel  in  France  with 
three  carriages,  each  with  six  horses,  and  with  a  few  other 
horses  that  were  led.  I  would  travel  only  a  few  miles  a 
day.  I  would  have  three  or  four  friends  with  me,  and 
three  or  four  ladies,  and  I  would  stop  wherever  I  liked. 

*  The  Emperor  was  day-dreaming  aloud,  as  he  frequently  did. 


252    TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

I  would  visit  everything.  I  would  talk  with  the  farmers 
and  the  laborers.  Man's  true  vocation  is  to  cultivate  the 
ground.     I  would  take  letters  of  introduction  to  the  chief 

men  in  the  principal  places When  I  was  Emperor 

something  like  this  wc.s  what  I  ought  to  have  done.  I 
ought  to  have  traversed  all  parts  of  France  with  four  hun- 
dred or  five  hundred  horsemen,  part  of  my  Guard,  send- 
ing a  fourgon  in  advance  to  prepare  proper  quarters  for  a 
sovereign.  By  that  plan  I  should  have  done  great  good 
to  other  people  and  to  myself.  If  I  had  stayed  a  few 
days  in  a  place  I  could  easily  have  made  myself  popular 
with  the  inhabitants.  If  I  had  gone  to  America  I  would 
have  travelled  a  great  deal  with  three  or  four  carriages  and 
a  few  friends.  If  I  ever  go  to  England  I  will  do  the 
same  thing,  only  we  should  have  to  admit  an  Englishman 
into  our  company.  This  kind  of  travelling  is  dignified  and 
delightful.  Suppose  I  had  arrived  thus,  incognito  at 
Parma,  and  surprised  the  Empress  at  mass!  I  could 
always  have  had  money  enough  to  live  in  that  way,  and 
then,  as  I  said,  with  a  louis  a  day  I  could  have  existed. 
I  would  have  made  my  habits  suit  my  means.  There 
comes  a  time  in  a  man's  life  when  he  is  weary  of  every- 
thing.    Wealth,  more  or  less,  does  not  add  to  or  take 

from  his  happiness;  all  he  wants  is  a  sufficiency 

Honors  and  wealth  do  not  make  men  happy. 

"The  life  that  I  live  here  on  St.  Helena,  if  I  were  not 
a  captive,  and  if  I  were  in  Europe,  would  suit  me  very 
well.  I  should  like  to  live  in  the  country;  I  should  like 
to  see  the  soil  improved  by  others,  for  I  do  not  know 
enough  about  gardening  to  improve  it  myself.  That  kind 
of  thing  is  the  noblest  existence.  A  sick  sheep  would 
afford  us  interesting  material  for  conversation.  One 
could  be  happy,  too,  in  Paris  in  the  society  of  persons  of 
the  same  rank  in  life  as  one's  self.  One  would  pay  one's 
scot  by  one's  interesting  conversation  in  return  for  what 
one    got    from   others.     One    might    gain   consideration 


MISCELLANEOUS  SAYINGS  253 

through  one's  own  talent,  and  one's  conversational  abili- 
ties. I  am  sure  that  in  the  middle  class  of  life  (that  of 
notaries  and  others  for  example)  there  is  more  real  happi- 
ness than  in  the  higher  ranks. 

"At  Elba,  with  plenty  of  money,  receiving  a  great 
many  visitors,  living  in  the  midst  of  learned  men  from  all 
parts  of  Europe,  and  being  as  it  were  the  centre  of  such 
a  circle,  I  should  have  been  very  happy.  I  would  have 
built  a  palace  to  accommodate  the  persons  whom  I 
expected  to  visit  me,  I  should  have  led  the  life  of  a 
country  gentleman,  surrounded  by  men  of  merit." 

His  Majesty  said  that  when  children  were  more  than 
three  or  four  years  old,  he  ceased  to  be  fond  of  them. 
Every  family  ought  to  have  at  least  six  children.  Three 
may  die,  and  then  of  the  three  that  survive,  there  are  two 
to  take  the  place  of  father  and  mother,  and  one  in  reserve 
in  case  of  accidents. 

"Letourneur  was  a  fool,  though  he  may  have  trans- 
lated Young's  'Night  Thoughts'  into  French.  Every 
man  can  do  some  one  thing  well  ;  all  one  has  to  do  is  to 
find  out  what  a  man  is  most  fit  for,  and  employ  him  to 
do  it.  I  had  Monsieur  de  Fresnes  for  my  Minister  of 
Finance.  He  was  as  stupid  as  a  man  could  be  about 
everything  else,  but  in  that  he  was  excellent.  He  could 
seize  by  intuition  on  the  solution  of  the  most  complicated 
problems.  Gaudin  was  incomparable  as  far  as  related  to 
contributions,  but  perhaps  Mollien  had  more  capacity  as 
Minister  of  Finance.  Gaudin  is  a  kind  man,  and  was 
much  loved  by  his  subordinates.  His  principle  is  that 
men  concerned  in  finance  ought  to  be  rich.  He  always 
pushed  his  employees'  fortunes,  and  tried  to  enable  them 
to  make  money.  This  system  is  perhaps  good;  it  is 
creditable  to  the  government,  and  often  adds  to  its 
resources.     An  incapable  minister  often  does  much  harm 


254  TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

by  employing  people  in  his  department  who  see  and  think 
only  as  he  does." 

"When  the  Pope  was  in  Paris  he  was  much  astonished 
to  see  Madame  Tallien  and  Madame  Hamelin,  women 
who  had  given  the  world  much  cause  to  talk  of  them, 
come  to  ask  for  his  blessing.  He  spoke  to  me  of  it.  He 
thought  they  came  only  in  mockery.  I  assured  him  that 
it  was  not  so,  but  that  such  ladies  had  susceptible  hearts, 
and  like  the  woman  taken  in  adultery,  much  might  be 
forgiven  them.     The  Holy  Father  approved  my  idea." 

"It  is  unfortunate  that  death  so  often  results  from 
duelling;  otherwise  duels  would  keep  up  politeness  in 
society.  Fighting  with  pistols  is  ignoble.  The  sword  is 
the  weapon  of  the  brave." 

His  Majesty  also  told  us  that  when  the  great  fire  in 
the  ball-room  of  Schwarzenberg  occurred,  in  i8iO,  in 
Vienna,  on  the  occasion  of  his  marriage  with  the  Arch- 
duchess, he  had  been  struck  with  the  idea  that  it  was  an 
ill  omen  for  himself.  "And  you  know,  Gourgaud,  that  at 
Dresden  when  they  came  and  told  me  that  Schwarzenberg 
had  been  killed,  I  was  delighted;  not  that  I  wished  the 
death  of  the  poor  man,  but  because  it  took  a  weight  off 
my  heart  ;  for  I  then  thought  that  his  unfortunate  burning 
had  presaged  misfortune  for  him  and  not  for  me."  ' 

"It  is  singular,  in  fact,  that  at  the  marriage  of  Louis 
XVI.  the  fête  given  on  the  occasion  was  fatal  to  many  of 
the  populace  of  Paris,  and  that  the  King,  a  long  time 
after,  was  put  to  death  by  that  same  populace.  The  fête 
of  Schwarzenberg  at  the  time  of  my  marriage  was  fatal  to 
the  diplomatists;  and  long  after  that  I  was  overthrown  by 
their  diplomacy.  I  would  never  advise  a  King  of  France 
to  marry  an  Austrian  princess.  That  family  has  always 
brought  misfortune  into  France." 

•On  that  occasion  Napoleon  exclaimed:  '' Schwarzenberg  a  purgé  la 
fatalité!''  But  the  news  of  his  death  was  false.  The  General  killed  was 
Moreau. 


MISCELLANEOUS  SAVINGS  255 

"I  never  care  when  my  enemies  accuse  me  of  coward- 
ice, or  of  being  a  bad  general,  but  when  it  comes  to  charg- 
ing me  with  poisoning,  or  assassination,  it  makes  me 
furious." 

"I  wish  I  had  made  better  prisons  in  Paris.  I  thought 
of  having  a  building,  a  sort  of  hôtel  garni ^  which  would 
hold  five  or  six  thousand  persons,  each  lodged  according 
to  his  rank,  but  I  was  dissuaded.  Now  that  I  have  read 
the  observations  of  an  Enghshman  on  the  prisons  of  Paris, 
I  am  sorry  I  did  not  carry  out  my  idea." 

His  Majesty  said  that  the  conduct  and  character  of 
Madame  de  Maintenon  were  never  clear  to  him.  The 
popes  have  inherited  the  power  of  the  Caesars.  He 
thought  it  absurd  that  the  Head  of  the  State  should  not 
also  be  the  Head  of  the  State's  religion.  England  and 
the  kingdoms  of  the  North  had  the  spirit  to  throw  off  that 
yoke,  and  they  did  well.  In  past  ages  it  was  really  the 
king's  confessor  who  made  peace  or  war.  The  empire  of 
the  confessor  over  men's  consciences  is  very  great. 

"I  always  had  excellent  horses.  Mourad  Bey  was  the 
best  and  the  handsomest.  In  Italy  I  had  a  very  fine 
horse.  When  he  was  invahded  I  sent  him  to  Saint-Cloud 
and  had  him  turned  out  to  graze  at  liberty." 

"Voltaire's  Mahomet  has  fine  poetry  in  it,  but  it  is 
quite  incorrect  as  to  history.  Mahomet  sentimentally  in 
love! — Allons  donc!  He  would  at  once  have  possessed 
himself  of  the  woman  he  fancied.  And  then  why  should 
he  be  supposed  to  have  entered  Mecca  on  the  faith  of  a 
truce?  He  entered  it  in  triumph  after  his  heroic  battle  of 
Bender. 

"Why  does  Voltaire  say  nothing  of  the  sacred  com- 
bat? Why  does  he  introduce  a  poisoning,  which  came  just 
in  the  nick  of  time?     Voltaire  liked  to  belittle  everything. 


256   TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  HELENA 

He  aimed  at  Christ  through  Mahomet.  He  imagines  that 
great  men  employ  ignoble  means;  poison,  for  instance,  to 
push  their  fortunes;  but  it  is  not  so." 

"I  should  like  very  well  to  live  at  Pisa,  but  nothing 
can  equal  France  in  Champagne,  and  in  the  Lyonnais.  I 
should  like  best  to  hve  in  the  country,  with  six  hundred 
thousand  francs  a  year,  and  have  a  house  in  Paris  like  the 
one  we  had  in  the  Rue  Chantereine,  besides  my  country 
house,  worth  one  hundred  thousand  or  one  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  francs,  about  six  miles  from  the  capital.  I 
would  not  care  to  give  dinner  parties  or  receptions  in  Paris; 
I  agree  with  the  English  who  live  incognito  in  London, 
having  in  the  capital,  one  might  say,  only  a  pied  à  terre, 
reserving  all  their  luxury  for  their  country  houses,  and 
dispensing  brilliant  hospitality  on  their  own  domains. 
With  three  hundred  thousand  livres  a  year  one  is  nobody 
in  Paris,  whilst  one  can  be  the  foremost  man  in  a  depart- 
ment; and  it  is  always  for  the  interest  of  the  government 
to  favor  the  chief  men  in  a  province." 

"The  most  essential  thing  when  one  has  sons  is  to  give 
them  a  good  education.  To  deprive  one's  self  for  their 
sakes  of  a  fortune  is  mere  folly.  You  may  have  econo- 
mized all  your  life  for  them,  and  then,  the  bright  eyes  of 
a  ballet  girl,  or  the  blast  of  a  trumpet,  will  in  one  moment 
dissipate  your  fortune!  Bah!  the  important  thing  as 
long  as  you  live  is  to  take  care  of  yourself.  I  should  like, 
for  example,  every  year  to  save  one-third  of  my  income. 
I  think  the  Dutch  are  very  wise.  The  household  of  a 
man  who  has  two  hundred  thousand  livres  for  his  income, 
is  maintained  on  the  scale  of  the  man  who  in  France  has 
twenty  thousand  to  thirty  thousand.  With  us  it  is  just 
the  contrary.  The  household  of  So-and-so  is  kept  up  on 
the  scale  of  an  income  of  two  hundred  thousand  livres, 
but  he  has  not  more  than  thirty  or  forty  thousand.     So 


MISCELLANEOUS  SAYINGS  257 

the  Dutch  are  really  rich,  whilst  people  who  in  our  own 
country  pass  for  rich  are  in  straitened  circumstances.  I 
should  not  like  to  have  a  place  at  court;  I  would  rather 
be  the  great  man  in  my  own  province;  instead  of  which, 
if  I  inhabited  Paris,  I  must  necessarily  be  in  attendance 
on  my  sovereign. 

"I  forced  my  dukes  to  have  handsome  houses  in  Paris, 
in  order  to  conciliate  public  opinion,  whilst  for  my  own 
part  I  could  have  been  quite  content  to  live  a  Bohemian 
life  in  the  capital.  There  is  nothing  superior  to  Paris 
with  its  public  gardens  and  its  libraries.  You  can  go  to 
all  the  theatres  for  a  very  small  sum.  One  might  even 
say  that  in  Paris  one  loses  all  consciousness  of  rain  or 
snow.     Everything  always  is  so  beautiful!" 

"My  great  reputation  in  Italy  was  partly  due  to  my 

never  having  permitted  my  army  to  pillage It  is 

a  very  responsible  thing  to  be  a  commander-in-chief:  his 
least  error  may  cost  thousands  of  lives." 

"Out  of  all  the  generals  who  served  in  Spain,  we 
ought  to  have  selected  a  certain  number  and  have  sent 
them  to  the  scaffold.  Dupont  made  us  lose  the  Penin- 
sula in  order  to  secure  his  plunder." 

"The  King's  government  is  destroying  all  my  institu- 
tions in  France — the  Legion  of  Honor,  the  University, 
and  soon  I  shall  be  forgotten.'  Historians  will  say  httle 
about  me.  Perhaps  some  day,  if  the  King  of  Rome 
reign  in  Parma,  he  will  cause  some  one  to  write  of  all 
that  I  have  done.  What  would  you  have.-'  Schwarzen- 
berg  boasts  of  having  betrayed  me  in  18 12,  and  if  I  were 
to  complain  of  it  in  my  account  of  that  year,  people  would 
be  saying,  'You  ought  to  have  expected  it,  and  to  have 
acted  accordingly.'  " 

'  As  1  write  1  have  beside  me  the  catalogue  of  the  Pratt  Library  of  Balti- 
more.   It  contains  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  books  on  Napoleon. 


258   TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  HELENA 

"I  am  too  old  to  pay  court  to  ladies.  Montholon 
says  that  many  men  at  forty-eight  are  still  young.  Yes, 
but  they  have  not  gone  through  all  that  I  have  done." 

"There  can  be  no  comparison  between  me  and  Crom- 
well. I  was  three  times  elected  by  the  people;  and 
besides,  in  France  my  army  had  never  made  war  on 
Frenchmen,  but  only  on  foreigners." 

"Hudson  Lowe  is  a  Sicilian  grafted  on  a  Prussian; 
they  must  have  chosen  him  to  make  me  die  under  his 
charge  by  inches.  It  would  have  been  more  generous  to 
have  shot  me  at  once." 

"London  bankers,  in  181 5,  gave  me  the  millions 
which  I  wanted  to  make  war  against  their  countrymen. 
Spain  for  a  long  time  paid  me  five  millions  a  month,  and 
that  sum  was  remitted  through  bankers  in  London." 

"I  wish  I  had  conversed  more  with  women.  They 
would  have  told  me  many  things  that  men  would  not 
relate  to  me." 

"I  place  great  value  on  habits  of  order  and  subordi- 
nation. Look  at  the  English!  They  conquered  us,  and 
yet  they  are  very  far  from  being  our  equals." 

"Lacretelle  wrote  nonsense,  in  a  florid  style." 

"  'Figaro'  is  a  comedy  adapted  to  pubhc  sentiment 
during  the  Revolution,  for  Beaumarchais's  object  was  to 
villify  the  nobles.  There  are  things  in  it  too  immoral  to 
be  fit  for  the  stage." 

"Mine  was  a  glorious  empire!  I  had  eighty-three 
million  human  beings  to  govern;  more  than  half  the  popu- 
lation of  all  Europe!" 


MISCELLANEOUS  SAYINGS  259 

"Whatever  a  mother  may  do  or  have  done,  her  own 
children  have  no  right  to  reproach  her." 

"Beaumarchais  did  everything  he  could  to  get  pre- 
sented to  me.     He  wanted  to  sell  me  his  house." 

The  Emperor  hears  that  Madame  Walewska  has 
married  Monsieur  d'Ornano,  and  he  is  glad  of  it:  "She 
is  rich,  for  she  must  have  laid  by  considerable  sums.  I 
did  much  for  her  two  children." 

Gourgaud  interrupts  with:  "Yes,  Your  Majesty  for  a 
long  time  made  Madame  Walewska  an  allowance  of  ten 
thousand  francs  a  month." 

When  Gourgaud  said  this,  the  Emperor  was  discom- 
posed.    "How  did  you  know  that,  Gourgaud?" 

"Pardieii,  Sire,  I  was  near  enough  to  the  person  of 
Your  Majesty  to  know  everything.  Those  about  you 
knew  of  it." 

"No  one,  I  thought,  knew  of  that  matter  but  Duroc." 

"They  did  not  have  émeutes  in  my  time  in  Paris. 
People  must  be  very  much  excited  now." 

"Narbonne  often  said  to  me  that  he  found  it  hard  to 
lay  aside  the  marquis  when  he  commanded  his  company. 
You  have  heard  that  his  soldiers  laughed  when  he 
exclaimed:  'Place,  gentlemen!  Place  for  the  Emperor!' " 

"History  will  hardly  make  any  mention  of  me;  I  was 
overthrown.  If  I  could  have  maintained  my  dynasty,  all 
would  have  been  different." 

"Nero  may  have  been  a  very  different  man  from  the 
Nero  represented  by  historians.  How  is  it  possible  to 
conceive  that  he  burnt  Rome  for  his  own  amusement.-*  Or 
that  he  had  a  boat  built  in  which  to  drown  his  mother.? 
There  is  nothing  probable  in  all  this.     It  is  true  that 


26o    TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  HELENA 

Carrier  had  boats  with  a  plug  at  the  bottom  that  could  be 
drawn  out.     But  to  say  so  of  Nero  is  nonsense." 

"A  book  has  just  appeared  which  is  attributed  to  me. 
In  it  we  read  that  a  sovereign  should  be  able  to  say,  'I 
never  committed  crimes.'  But  I  did  worse;  for  I  com- 
mitted blunders." 

"One  can  see  that  Macdonald's  heart  is  full  of  regret 
and  remorse;  those  who  betrayed  me  cannot  bear  the 
thought  of  it.  Ernouf,  whom  I  ought  to  have  had  tried 
for  his  dishonesties  in  Guadeloupe,  offered,  in  1815,  to 
serve  me  by  going  to  Ghent,  and  acting  as  a  spy  upon  the 
King." 

"One  day  I  was  astonished  at  seeing  the  great  sums 
spent  by  the  paymaster  of  the  forces  for  the  first  division. 
I  asked  to  see  his  accounts.  He  brought  them  to  me 
the  next  day.  I  saw  three  hundred  thousand  francs  paid 
over  to  a  certain  regiment.  I  pointed  out  to  him  that  for 
ten  years  this  regiment  had  not  been  in  Paris  nor  even 
one  of  its  detachments.  They  examined,  and  found  this 
true.  Somebody  had  embezzled  the  three  hundred  thou- 
sand francs.  The  affair  made  a  great  noise.  It  was  sup- 
posed I  had  learned  the  matter  through  public  rumor,  but 
it  was  not  so.  Never  was  there  more  order  and  regu- 
larity in  the  accounts  of  those  who  spent  money  for  the 
government  than  in  my  time.  In  181 5  I  could  not  unravel 
the  accounts  the  King's  government  had  left  behind.  I 
had  not  the  time.  I  partly  owed  the  good  measures  that 
I  adopted  to  my  knowledge  of  mathematics,  and  to  my 
clear  ideas  about  everything. 

"A  very  singular  thing  about  me  is  my  memory. 
When  I  was  young  I  remembered  logarithms  of  more  than 
thirty  and  forty  figures.'     In  France  I  knew  not  only  the 

>  Shortly  before  this  was  said  at  St.  Helena,  Napoleon  had  remarked  that 
be  was  lo&ing  bis  memory. 


MISCELLANEOUS  SAYINGS  261 

names  of  the  officers  in  all  my  regiments,  but  the  places 
where  each  corps  had  been  recruited,  and  where  it  had 
distinguished  itself.     I  even  knew  the  spirit  of  the  men. 

"The  Thirty-second  half-brigade  would  have  died  for 
me,  because  after  Lonato,  I  had  reported:  'The  Thirty- 
second  brigade  was  there,  and  my  mind  was  easy.'  It 
is  astonishing  what  power  words  have  over  men.  At 
Toulouse  there  was  some  threatening  of  a  mutiny.  As  I 
passed  through  the  place  I  said  to  the  disaffected:  'What 
has  become  of  the  men  who  served  with  me  in  the  Thirty- 
second,  and  in  the  Seventeenth  light  cavalry.?  Are  they  all 
dead?'  That  brought  them  back  to  me,  for  those  two 
regiments  had  been  recruited  in  Languedoc. 

"Provence,  on  the  contrary,  was  against  me,  because  I 
had  said  at  the  siege  of  Toulon,  that  the  Provencals  made 
bad  soldiers.  Princes  should  be  very  careful  of  their 
words." 

"I  cannot  write  well  because  my  mind  is  engaged  on 
two  subjects  at  once:  one,  my  ideas;  the  other,  my 
handwriting.  The  ideas  go  on  fastest,  and  then  good-bye 
to  the  letters  and  the  lines!  I  can  only  dictate  now.  It  is 
very  convenient  to  dictate.  It  is  just  as  if  one  were  hold- 
ing a  conversation." 

"Benjamin  Constant  showed  me  some  of  Madame  de 
Staël's  letters;  they  were  more  than  passionate.  She 
threatened  to  kill  her  son  if  Benjamin  would  not  do  what 
she  wished.  In  1805  she  let  me  know  that  if  I  would  pay 
her  two  millions,  she  would  write  anything  I  liked.  I 
packed  her  off  immediately.  After  the  eighteenth  Bru- 
maire Joseph  worried  me  to  have  Benjamin  Constant 
named  a  member  of  the  Tribunat.  I  would  not  do  it  at 
first,  but  in  the  end  I  yielded,  I  wrote  to  Lebrun,  and 
Benjamin  was  appointed.  At  the  end  of  a  few  months 
he  joined  the  opposition,  thinking  I  would  buy  him  back. 


202     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  HELENA 

He  ought  to  have  known  that  I  knock  down  my  enemies, 
but  never  purchase  them." 

At  a  masked  ball  given  by  Cambacérès  the  Emperor 
accosted  Madame  Saint-Didier,  who  did  not  recognize 
him,  and  she  told  him  she  was  amazed  to  meet  in  the 
archchancellor's  house  any  one  so  impertinent  and  so 
intrusive.  His  Majesty  was  very  much  amused  by  this, 
and  every  time  he  met  Madame  de  Saint-Didier  after- 
wards he  teased  her  about  it. 

"Ah!  Gourgaud,  you  are  a  good  Catholic;  you  want 
to  go  to  confession!  Well,  confess  yourself  to  me;  you 
know  I  have  been  anointed."  ' 

"Men  are  never  attached  to  you  by  benefits." 

"To  promise  and  not  to  keep  your  promise  is  the  way 
to  get  on  in  this  world." 

"Mohammed  has  been  accused  of  frightful  crimes. 
Great  men  are  always  supposed  to  have  committed  crimes, 
such  as  poisonings;  that  is  quite  false;  they  never  succeed 
by  such  means." 

"I  admire  'Gil  Bias'  myself,  but  think  it  a  bad  book 
for  young  men.  Gil  Bias  sees  the  evil  side  of  everything, 
and  the  young  are  apt  to  fancy  all  the  world  is  as  bad  as 
he  found  it;  which  is  false." 

"The  Memoirs  of  Cardinal  de  Retz  are  the  memoirs 
of  a  grand  seigneur,  but  they  read  like  those  of  a  Figaro. 
It  is  impossible  to  be  more  shameless.  Paris  was  power- 
ful then;  it  is  so  now.  It  is  still  a  question  whether  on 
July  14  Monsieur  de  Broglie  entered  Paris  by  force.  On 
the  13th  Vendémiaire  all  depended  on  a  small  thing.     Any 

^  At  bis  coronation. 


MISCELLANEOUS  SAYINGS  263 

one  but  me  would  have  failed  if  he  had  not  brought  the 
cannon  from  Sablons  to  Paris,  as  I  did.  On  the  14th  I 
sent  bombs  into  the  Rue  Vivienne. 

"I  cannot  understand  the  present  attitude  of  Paris.  If 
after  Waterloo  I  had  remained  there,  if  I  had  cut  off 
about  one  hundred  heads, — that  of  Fouché  to  begin  with, — 
I  could  have  held  Paris  with  the  assistance  of  the  mob." 

One  day  Napoleon  amuses  himself  by  imagining  a 
plan  of  escape  from  St.  Helena:  "We  will  go  forth  in 
the  daytime.  We  will  go  through  the  town.  With  our 
fowling-pieces  we  could  get  the  better  of  their  post  of  ten 
men — oh!  if  the  governor  only  knew  what  we  are  talking 
abouti — Nobody  but  Marchand  would  know  I  was  not  in 
my  chamber.  We  would  send  Madame  Bertrand  to 
Plantation  House,  and  O'Meara  into  the  town.  I  may 
live  fifteen  years  yet." 

They  all  laughed,  made  jokes,  and  went  to  bed. 

"Hudson  Lowe  says  I  am  very  deep.  Eh!  mon  Dieu ^ 
that  is  a  mistake.  There  never  was  any  one  more 
straightforward  than  I  am." 

"You  think,  Gourgaud,  that  I  care  for  noble  birth? 
You  make  a  great  mistake.  My  own  birth  was  not  more 
noble  than  yours.  Nor  was  Bertrand's.  Montholon  has 
laid  aside  his  noblesse.  His  wife  is  the  daughter  of  a 
financier." 

"You  ought  to  translate  the  'Annual  Register'  into 
French;  that  would  give  you  a  great  reputation.  There 
are  fifty  volumes.  It  would  take  you  some  time.  It 
contains  the  history  of  the  last  twenty-five  years.  Every- 
body would  want  it,  for  I  would  add  my  notes  to  your 
translation;  besides  I  should  find  it  very  useful.  I  should 
see  all  the  debates  in  Parliament." 


264     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  HELENA 

"Men  are  all  selfish;  we  must  take  them  as  we  find 
them;  but  you,  Gourgaud,  can  love,  and  you  want  love 
in  return." 

"It  would  be  a  fine  thing  if  we  were  to  found  a  colony 
on  a  desert  island.  I  would  have  two  thousand  men, 
with  plenty  of  firearms  and  cannon.  I  would  be  King  and 
you  should  be  my  Chamber  of  Peers;  the  common  herd 
should  be  Deputies.  If  I  had  gone  to  America  we  might 
have  founded  a  State  there." 

"Monsieur  de  Chabrillant  objected  to  my  making  you, 
Gourgaud,  my  first  orderly  officer.  But  I  look  at  the 
man  only.  You  are  keen-witted;  you  have  activity  and 
bravery;  you  make  good  reports.  So  I  made  light  of 
Monsieur  de  Chabrillant 's  jealousy,  and  his  complaints 
only  attached  me  the  more  to  you.  You  had  been  with 
me  a  long  time.  You  were  with  me  in  Russia;  you  were 
useful  to  me;  besides,  when  any  one  wants  to  make  me 
think  highly  of  another  person,  he  need  only  say  harm  of 
him.  Why  did  you  not  long  ago  ask  me  to  give  places 
to  your  relations?  I  would  have  granted  them  to  your 
friends  in  preference  to  others.  Your  brother-in-law 
might  have  been  my  receiver-general.  It  was  my  inter- 
est to  enrich  all  those  around  me,  to  have  men  who  were, 
so  to  speak,  my  own.  I  would  have  put  him  into  a  posi- 
tion where  he  could  have  given  me  valuable  information. 
Why,  when  we  were  leaving  Malmaison,  did  you  not  ask 
me  for  money  for  your  mother?  I  would  gladly  then  have 
given  you  fifty  or  sixty  thousand  francs.  Remember  men 
are  more  attached  to  those  on  whom  they  confer  benefits 
than  those  who  receive  them  are  to  their  benefactors." 

"Fouché  betrayed  me;  Davout  let  himself  be  deceived. 
Bah!  he  betrayed  me  too.  He  has  a  wife  and  children; 
he  thought  that  all  was  lost;  he  wanted  to  keep  what  he 
had  got.     Already  before  I  left  Paris  he  had  sent  an  agent 


MISCELLANEOUS  SAYINGS  265 

to  England  and  tried  to  persuade  me  that  it  was  to  buy- 
arms If  you  think  Davout  was  devoted  to  me 

you  do  not  know  men.     You  do  not  know  Davout  as  I 
do.'" 

There  was  a  shght  earthquake  at  St.  Helena  in  the 
summer  of  1817.  "I  think,  like  Gourgaud,  that  we  ought 
to  have  been  swallowed  up,  island  and  all.  It  would  be 
so  pleasant  to  die  in  company." 

"The  unhappy  disturbances  in  Guadeloupe  may  per- 
haps bring  on  a  massacre  in  Paris.  Perhaps  the  Governor 
has  learned  that  Napoleon  II.  has  ascended  the  throne. 
Then  there  will  be  no  more  disputes  as  to  my  title  of 
Emperor." 

"I  never  chose  to  have  menial  service  from  my 
courtiers,  such  as  was  called  service  du  chambre.  I  made 
a  distinction  between  what  was  menial  and  what  was 
honorable  service;  I  liked  to  have  valets  de  chambre  whom 
I  could  beat  if  I  thought  proper,  rather  than  gentlemen. 
The  valets  had  a  good  deal  in  their  power:  whilst 
undressing  me  they  could,  if  they  pleased,  speak  to  me  of 
such  and  such  persons.  They  received  handsome  pres- 
ents. But  their  constant  attendance  was  somewhat  severe. 
I  ought  always  to  have  had  people  to  dine  with  me,  as  I 
did  in  1815,  and  sometimes  I  should  have  dined  in  public. 
There  were  gentlemen  from  the  country  who  had  never 
been  able  to  see  me,  and  people  grow  attached  to  a 
sovereign  by  seeing  him.  I  ought  to  have  had  more 
people  at  my  levees— prefects  and  judges  and  generals— 
and  I  should  have  had  a  day  for  each  class.  There  were 
not  enough  people  in  the  salo7is  de  service;  I  ought  to 
have  passed  through  them  in  going  to  dinner,  when  people 
might  have  spoken  to  me." 

J  ^  '  ^"'  Napoleon  another  time  at  St.  Helena  wrote  on  the  margin  of  Fleury 
de  Chaboulon  s  "  Histoire  des  Cent  Jours,"  which  spealcs  with  great  bitterness 
ot  General  Davout:  "Young  man,  do  not  insult  one  of  the  most  pure  and  glori- 
ous men  in  France."    The  book  is  now  at  Sens  in  a  xa\xi&\ua.— French  Editor 


266    TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

"You  complain  of  your  sorrows!  Think  of  mine! 
Think  of  all  I  have  experienced,  all  the  things  I  have  to 
reproach  myself  for!     You  have  nothing  to  regret." 

"Ah!"  said  Bertrand  to  Gourgaud,  "consider  how 
when  His  Majesty  lies  awake  he  must  think  that  it  is  he 
who  has  brought  so  much  misery  on  France — France, 
which  since  the  days  of  Henri  H.  had  never  had  the 
humiUation  of  seeing  enemies  in  her  capital!  What  sor- 
rows in  France  have  been  caused  by  his  fault — Moscow, 
Dresden,  Chatillon — and  he  can  never  go  from  this  place 
as  we  can!" 

Gourgaud:  "It  is  unfortunate  that  the  Emperor  was 
not  killed  at  Waterloo.  It  would  have  been  the  fitting 
close  of  his  life  for  his  reputation.  Whilst  to  die  of  old 
age  here  at  St.  Helena  is  to  live  wretchedly  and  die 
ignobly." 

Bertrand:  "But  one  does  not  know  what  may  yet 
take  place.  Louis  XVIII.  was  restored  after  twenty 
years  of  exile." 

Gourgaud:  "Yes;  but  restoration  would  not  obhter- 
ate  the  faults  committed  by  the  Emperor.  France  would 
never  forget  that  she  had  been  invaded,  humiliated,  and 
impoverished.  History  will  always  reproach  the  Emperor 
with  these  things." 

"How  can  any  one  imagine  that  Nero  had  Rome 
burnt — Nero,  who  was  so  much  beloved  in  his  [capital? 
Tacitus  gives  no  explanation  of  that.  It  has  been  said 
that  I  do  not  like  Tacitus  because  he  attacks  tyranny. 
One  day  Monsieur  Suard  came  and  bored  me  on  that 
theme,  and  that  was  how  the  report  started." 

"Ah!  may  the  Parisians  when  they  recall  their  glori- 
ous days  connect  them  with  the  remembrance  of  me!  I 
shall  be  happy  then.  And  in  fact  they  cannot  speak  of 
them  without  associating  me  with  them.     As  the  Abbé  de 


MISCELLANEOUS  SAYINGS  267 

Pradt  said,  I  wanted  to  make  Paris  reach  as  far  as  Saint 
Cloud,  and  in  my  system  of  reigning  over  the  world  I 
meant  to  make  Paris  a  mighty  capital.  The  Parisians 
have  intelligence.  They  will  never  forget  me.  They  are 
brave,  too." 

"If  Wellington  had  done  in  France  all  the  things  he 
did  in  Corsica,  he  would  have  been  assassinated." 

"The  manners  and  customs  of  the  Romans  were 
quite  different  from  ours.  For  example,  we  have  no  idea 
of  the  freedmen.  The  institution  was  convenient  in  those 
days.  But  now,  if  I  wanted  to  get  a  man  to  assassinate 
an  enemy,  I  could  not  find  him." 

"A  wife  is  only  one  of  a  man's  ribs.  She  is  the  slave 
of  her  husband." 

Napoleon  said  that  his  valets  de  chambre,  Hubert, 
Pellair,  and  Marchand,  were  all  excellent.  "M.  de 
Montesquiou  had  a  number  of  such  young  men,  fellows  of 
great  merit.  I  could  have  made  a  nursery  of  them  to  fur- 
nish me  with  rehable  and  distinguished  men.  I  might 
have  made  them  my  ambassadors." 

"When  King  Ferdinand  at  Valençay  asked  me  to  send 
him  a  physician  from  Paris,  I  replied,  Yes,  for  consulta- 
tion. But  I  do  not  choose  people  should  say,  if  any- 
thing should  go  wrong  with  him,  that  I  had  anything  to  do 
with  it.     He  had  better  have  Spanish  doctors." 

"After  all,  the  only  persons  I  really  care  for  are  those 
who  are  useful  to  me.  I  never  care  what  they  think.  I  pay 
attention  only  to  what  they  say.  If  you  are  attached  to 
me  you  ought  to  pay  court  to  the  Montholons.  You  see 
that  they  please  me,  and  that  it  is  they,  and  they  only, 
who  are  devoted  to  me.  You,  Gourgaud,  and  the  Gov- 
ernor make  my  life  very  hard." 


268     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

"The  history  of  Rome  is  pretty  much  the  history  of 
the  world." 


"I  ought  to  have  crushed  the  Prince  Bishop  of  the 
Montenegrins,  but  I  treated  him  with  consideration  in 
case  of  a  rupture  with  the  Turks.  The  expedition  of 
MoHtor  through  his  country  was  a  fine  one.  MoHtor 
was  a  very  brave  man." 

Laplace  had  the  meanness  to  remove  the  name  of  the 
Emperor  from  the  dedication  of  his  Mécanique  Céleste. 
After  the  Emperor's  downfall  he  asked  Caulaincourt  to 
give  him  back  a  copy  he  had  presented  to  him,  that  he 
might  give  him  another  in  which  the  name  of  Napoleon 
did  not  appear. 

The  little  circle  in  the  salon  at  Longwood  read  aloud 
"Paul  and  Virginia,"  and  the  Emperor  thought  the  letter 
of  Virginia  to  her  mother  was  absurd.  He  had  at  one 
time  advised  Bernardin  to  write  nothing  but  such  books 
as  "Paul  and  Virginia,"  and  to  let  philosophy  alone.  St. 
Pierre  made  a  mistake  in  thinking  that  Laplace  had  injured 
him  in  the  opinion  of  His  Majesty.  During  the  reading 
of  "Paul  and  Virginia"  the  Emperor  was  much  moved. 
"I  wept,"  says  Gourgaud;  "so  did  Madame  de  Mon- 
tholon,  who  said  to  me  as  we  left  the  salon  that  in  our 
situation  such  reading  stirred  our  feelings  too  much,  and 
troubled  her  digestion." 

On  a  previous  occasion  they  had  read  something  of 
Florian's,  and  then  Paul  and  Virginia.  The  Emperor  said 
that  Florian's  style  was  too  abrupt,  the  style  of  "Paul  and 
Virginia"  excellent. 

That  big  Bernadin  de  Saint-Pierre  is  however  a  mis- 
chievous man.  He  ought  to  write  only  such  books  as 
"Paul  and  Virginia,"  or  the  "Chaumière  Indienne." 

His  Majesty  reads  an  account  of  the  travels  of  Queen 
Christina  of  Sweden,   and  is  indignant  at  the  attention 


MISCELLANEOUS  SAYINGS  269 

paid  her  by  the  Court  of  France.     Christina  had  a  right 
to  kill  Monaldeschi. 

The  Emperor  said  he  was  going  to  reread  the  history 
of  Cromwell;  he  had  not  read  it  for  a  long  time.  Had 
the  Protector  any  great  military  ability,  or  was  he  only  a 
bully.?  He  had  one  important  quality — dissimulation — 
and  he  had  great  political  talent.  He  could  see  things 
clearly  and  judge  them  correctly.  There  was  no  action 
in  his  life  in  which  he  may  be  said  to  have  miscalculated. 
He  was  an  extraordinary  man. 

"Volney  wrote  well,  but  there  were  some  things  about 
the  East  that  he  did  not  understand.  The  Koran  allows 
the  Arabs  to  perform  their  ablutions  with  sand." 

"Chateaubriand  has  not  sufficient  skill  in  reasoning  to 
write  a  good  political  work.  He  will  put  in  too  many 
flowers  of  rhetoric,  but  flowers  will  not  take  the  olace  of 
close  reasoning." 

The  Emperor  said  that  his  great  superiority  over  other 
men  consisted  in  being  able  to  endure  continuous  brainwork. 
He  never  knew  any  man  equal  to  him  in  this.  "I  could 
discuss  one  subject  for  eight  hours,  and  at  the  end  of  that 
time  take  up  another  matter  with  my  mind  as  fresh  as  at 
the  beginning.  Even  now  I  can  dictate  twelve  hours  at  a 
time.  Massena  and  others  got  physically  tired  sooner 
than  I  did.  Own,  Gourgaud,  that  it  takes  splendid  cour- 
age to  live  here!  Yet,  mon  Dieu,  I  am  as  calm  as  if  I 
were  living  at  the  Tuileries.  I  never  have  attached  much 
importance  to  life.  I  would  not  make  a  step — I  have 
never  made  a  step — to  shun  death." 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

RELIGION. 

"Monge,  Berthollet,  and  Laplace  were  all  atheists.  I 
think  the  matter  that  made  man  was  slime,  warmed  by  the 
sun  and  vivified  by  electric  fluids.  What  are  animals — an 
ox,  for  example — but  organized  matter?  Well!  when  we 
see  that  our  physical  frame  resembles  theirs,  may  we  not 
believe  that  we  are  only  better  organized  matter;  almost 
in  a  perfect  state?  '  Perhaps  some  day  there  will  be 
formed  more  perfect  beings  still. 

"Where  is  a  baby's  soul?  What  becomes  of  a  mad- 
man's? The  growth  of  the  soul  follows  the  growth  of  the 
body,"  it  grows  as  the  child  grows,  it  shrinks  in  old  age. 
If  our  souls  are  immortal  they  must  have  existed  before 
we  were  born.  Has  the  soul  no  memory?  On  the  other 
hand,  how  can  thought  be  explained?  See  now,  at  this 
very  moment  when  I  am  speaking  to  you,  my  thoughts 
have  gone  back  to  the  Tuileries.  I  see  the  palace  and  the 
gardens,  I  see  Paris.  That  is  how  once  upon  a  time  I 
explained  presentiments.  I  imagined  the  hand  accusing 
the  eye  of  falsehood,  when  the  eye  said  it  could  see  a 
league  away.  The  hand  said:  'I  can  discern  nothing  that 
is  more  than  two  feet  from  me;  how,  then,  can  you  see  a 
league?'  Presentiments  in  some  men  are  like  the  eyes  of 
the  soul. 

"Yet  the  idea  of  God  the  Creator  is  much  the  most 
simple  explanation  of  the  origin  of  things.  Who  made 
them  all?     There  is  a  veil  we  cannot  lift.     It  is  beyond 

»  "God  breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of  life  ;  and  man  became  a 
living-  soul."    Genesis  2  : 7.—E.  W.  L. 

'The  Emperor  confounds  the  spiritual  part  of  man  with  his  intelligence. 
Intelligence  is,  to  a  certain  extent,  the  inheritance  of  animals.— £.  W.  L. 

270 


RELIGION  271 

the  powers  of  our  soul,  beyond  the  reach  of  our  under- 
standings. It  belongs  to  a  higher  order  of  things.  The 
most  simple  idea  consists  in  worshipping  the  sun,  which 
gives  life  to  everything.  ■  I  repeat,  I  think  man  was  created 
in  an  atmosphere  warmed  by  the  sun,  and  that  after  a 
certain  time  this  productive  power  ceased. 

"Do  soldiers  believe  in  God?  Ahl  they  see  so  many 
dead  comrades  fall  around  them  I 

"I  have  often  held  arguments  with  the  Bishop  of 
Nantes  to  discuss  what  becomes  of  animals  after  their 
death.  He  told  me  that  he  thought  they  might  have 
some  kind  of  soul  different  from  man's,  and  that  they 
might  go  to  certain  limbos.  He  agreed  to  all  I  said  about 
the  wealth  of  the  clergy,  but  he  believed  in  Jesus  Christ, 
and  always  spoke  like  a  true  Christian.  Cardinal  Casali 
and  Pope  Pius  VH.  were  also  true  beHevers 

"All  religions  since  that  of  Jupiter  inculcate  morality. 
I  would  believe  any  religion  that  could  prove  it  had  existed 
since  the  beginning  of  the  world.  But  when  I  see 
Socrates,  Plato,  Moses,  and  Mohammed  I  do  not  think 
there  is  such  a  one.  All  religions  owe  their  origin  to 
man."' 

"The  Christian  religion  offers  much  pomp  to  the  eye, 
and  gives  its  worshippers  many  brilliant  spectacles.  It 
affords  something  all  the  time  to  occupy  the  imagination. 
I  like  convents.     Only   I    wish   they   would    forbid   the 

'  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  in  these  talks  about  religion,  Napoleon, 
when  he  speaks  of  "Christianity,"  means  Christianity  as  he  conceived  it— a 
system  founded  on  the  dogmas  he  had  learned  from  Cardinal  Fesch,  an  unen- 
lightened ecclesiastic  of  the  same  type  as  most  churchmen  of  the  middle  ages. 
His  Mohammedanism  had  taught  him  at  least  its  fundamental  truth:  There  is 
but  one  God,  though  he  sometimes  seems  to  have  wavered  in  his  acceptance 
of  even  this.  There  was  not  the  smallest  spirituality  in  his  nature.  He  was  an 
agnostic  of  the  most  pronounced  kind,  without  helps  from  modern  research 
and  explanation.  He  believed  only  what  came  within  his  own  experience— 
what  he  thought  he  could  apprehend.  All  else  he  put  aside  as  unworthy  of  his 
understanding.  He  had  no  spiritual  instincts  ;  affection  was  not  in  his  nature. 
Faith,  as  he  conceived  it,  was  the  acceptance  of  dogmas  by  the  intellect.  Its 
true  meaning,  trust,  was  not  even  suspected  by  him.  But  he  was  too  great  a 
man  not  to  perceive  clearly  how  necessary  religion  was  to  the  human  race. 
He  restored  public  worship  ;  he  made  the  Concordat  ;  he  often  read  the  Bible, 


272      TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

taking  of  vows  until  those  who  wish  to  do  so  are  fifty 
years  of  age.  At  this  moment  I  could  live  very  happily 
in  retirement  in  a  convent.  When  I  re-established  the 
convent  of  the  Great  St.  Bernard,  and  endowed  it  with 
forty  thousand  francs  a  year,  my  act  gave  great  pleasure 
to  the  clergy.  Cardinal  Caselli,  who  was  the  great  theo- 
logian of  Cardinal  Gonsalvi,  the  leading  man  in  the  Sacred 
College  at  the  time  of  the  Concordat,  was  enchanted  when 
I  talked  to  him  about  Egypt  and  Judea.  He  could  not 
conceive  that  the  Jordan  was  only  about  sixty  feet  in 
width.  The  result  of  our  conversations  was  that  he 
assured  the  Holy  Father  that  he  ought  to  grant  me  all  1 
asked,  and  that  I  was  the  only  man  who  could  re-establish 
religion." 

"Did  Jesus  ever  exist,  or  did  he  not?  I  think  no  con- 
temporary historian  has  ever  mentioned  him;  not  even 
Josephus.  Nor  do  they  mention  the  darkness  that 
covered  the  earth  at  the  time  of  his  death." 

"The  moral  code  of  Jesus  is  the  same  as  that  of 
Plato.  Society  needs  a  religion  to  estabUsh  and  consoli- 
date the  relations  of  men  with  one  another.  It  moves 
great  forces;  but  is  it  good,  or  is  it  bad  for  a  man  to  put 
himself  entirely  under  the  sway  of  a  director?  There  are 
so  many  bad  priests  in  the  world  !  '  ' 

"I  have  been  reading  Genesis,  and  I  can  assure  you 
that  the  localities  and  customs  mentioned  in  it  are  drawn 

borrowing  the  book  from  Gourgaud,  who  was  a  Catholic  and  a  Christian  in 
belief,  if  not  always  in  practice.  To  be  sure,  Napoleon's  interest  in  the 
Scriptures  was  chiefly  in  the  Hebrew  hasgndah  or  parable  stories,  in  the  Apoc- 
rypha, in  Moses  and  Joshua  as  old-time  generals,  and  in  theJBiblical  view  of 
legitimism,  as  illustrated  in  the  histories  of  David  and  Saul.  That  the  Old 
Testament  was  the  introduction  to  the  New  ;  that  Christianity  had  its  roots  in 
the  relations  of  God  to  man  in  the  far  past,  and  was  not,  like  Mohammedanism, 
a  new  religion,  never  occurred  to  him.  That  Christ  came  into  the  world,  when 
the  fulness  of  time  had  come,  iofuljill,  not  to  destroy,  the  Jewish  religion,  was 
a  view  of  Christianity  that  had  never  presented  itself  to  him.  When  he 
selected  the  companions  of  his  exile  he  omitted  a  chaplain,  and  said  he  had  had 
something  more  important  to  think  about.  The  young  Corsican  priests  Cardi- 
nal Fesch  subsequently  sent  out  to  him  stayed  but  a  short  tinie  at  St.  Helena, 
and  commanded  no  respect.— j£.  W.  L. 


RELIGION  273 

with  the  greatest  truth.  To  read  it  is  a  great  pleasure 
when  one  remembers  all  the  places  it  alludes  to. 

"The  Crusaders  came  back  worse  Christians  than 
they  were  when  they  left  their  homes.  Intercourse  with 
Mohammedans  had  made  them  less  Christian.  Judea  is 
not  a  rich  country." 

Gourgaud  remarks  that  what  was  prophesied  about  the 
Jews  has  been  fulfilled  to  the  letter,  and  continues  to  be 
fulfilled.  They  are  dispersed  on  the  face  of  the  earth  and 
are  a  constant  miracle. 

Napoleon:  "That  is  singular,  but  it  is  also  sur- 
prising that  there  are  still  in  France  a  million  of  Protes- 
tants in  spite  of  the  persecutions  they  have  endured. 
All  men  cling  strongly  to  their  religion.  There  are  not 
more  than  two  millions  of  Jews."  ^ 

"If  I  had  to  choose  a  religion  I  think  I  should  become 
a  worshipper  of  the  sun.  The  sun  gives  to  all  things  life 
and  fertility.     It  is  the  true  God  of  the  earth." 

"I  do  not  think  I  should  like  to  confess  to  a  married 
priest,  who  might  go  and  tell  it  all  to  his  wife.  Formerly 
parish  priests  had  their  housekeepers  or  their  nieces.  At 
the  Council  of  Constance  the  old  men  were  in  favor  of 
the  marriage  of  the  clergy,  and  the  young  men,  because 
of  ambition,  set  themselves  against  it. 

"To  receive  all  classes  into  one  convent  is,  I  think, 
absurd.  Before  the  Revolution  I  knew  monks  whom 
nature  had  intended  for  mere  laboring  men  living  in  lux- 
ury and  idleness.  I  think  that  three  or  four  convents 
such  as  I  proposed  to  establish  would  be  extremely  useful. 
Such  a  life  led  in  common  by  either  men  or  women  would 
not  be  possible  without  the  bond  of  religion.  Religion 
lends  sanctity  to  everything." 

"The  best  and  most  learned  churchman  I  have  ever 
known  was  the  Bishop  of  Nantes.     He  was  well  versed 

'  Two  millions  in  France,  and  but  eight  millions  in  the  world.— £.  W.L. 


274     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

in  the  chicaneries  of  skeptics.  He  never  undertook  the 
defence  of  his  outworks,  but  he  was  not  to  be  overcome 
in  his  entrenchments.  Though  he  had  great  respect  for 
the  Pope  he  frequently  opposed  him.  He  overthrew  all 
the  other  cardinals.  He  said  to  me  on  the  subject  of 
indulgences:  'You  must  remember  that  the  popes  are  only 
men.'  " 

"The  Mohammedan  religion  is  the  finest  of  all.  In 
Egypt  the  sheiks  greatly  embarrassed  me  by  asking  what 
we  meant  when  we  said  'the  Son  of  God.'  If  we  had 
three  gods,  we  must  be  heathen." 

"The  remission  of  sins  is  a  beautiful  idea.  It  makes 
the  Christian  religion  so  attractive  that  it  will  never  perish. 
No  one  can  say,  'I  do  not  believe,  and  I  never  shall 
believe.'  " 

"What  is  electricity,  galvanism,  or  magnetism? 
Therein  lies  the  great  secret  of  nature.  Galvanism  works 
in  silence.  I  think  myself  that  man  is  the  product  of 
these  fluids  and  the  atmosphere;  that  the  brain  pumps  up 
the  fluids  and  gives  life;  that  the  soul  is  composed  of 
these  fluids,  and  that  after  death  they  return  into  the 
ether,  whence  they  are  again  pumped  by  other  brains." 

The  Emperor  thinks  that  the  Catholic  religion  is 
better  than  the  Anglican.  "The  worshippers  do  not  under- 
stand what  they  sing  at  vespers,  they  only  witness  the 
spectacle.  It  is  a  mistake  to  endeavor  to  enlighten  them 
too  much  about  such  things." 

Gazing  up  at  the  starry  heavens,  Gourgaud  says, 
"They  make  me  feel  I  am  so  small,  and  God  so  great." 

Napoleon  replies:  "How  comes  it,  then,  that  Laplace 
was  an  atheist?  At  the  Institute  neither  he  nor  Monge, 
nor  Berthollet,  nor  Lagrange  believed  in  God.  But  they 
did  not  like  to  say  so." 


RELIGION  375 

Gourgaud  says:  "We  talked  of  confessors,"  and 
adds,  "I  have  myself  formed  such  an  idea  of  God,  that  I 
can  address  myself  straight  to  Him.  I  have  extreme 
confidence  in  His  goodness.  You  all  think  that  I  am 
always  reading  the  Bible.  I  do  not  know  why  Your 
Majesty  tries  to  make  out  that  I  am  a  bigot."  ' 

Napoleon  says:  "Yes,  I  think  you  are  something  of 
that  kind." 

Gourgaud:  "I  own  that  I  believe  firmly  in  God,  and 
cannot  conceive  how  men  can  be  atheists.  To  proclaim 
themselves  such  seems  to  me  mere  mental  braggadocio." 

Napoleon:  "Bah!  Laplace  was  an  atheist,  and  Berthol- 
let  too.     At  the  Institute  they  all  were  atheists,  and  yet 

Newton   and    Leibnitz    were    believers Atheists 

compare  man  to  a  clock;  but  the  clock-maker  is  a  being  of 
superior  intelligence.  They  grant  that  creation  is  the 
result  of  matter,  as  warmth  is  the  effect  of  fire.  I  believe 
in  a  superior  intelligence.  I  should  also  believe  as  firmly 
in  Christ  as  Pius  VH,  does,  if  the  Christian  religion  went 
as  far  back  as  the  beginning  of  the  world,  and  had  been 
the  universal  religion.  But  when  I  see  Mohammedans 
following  a  religion  more  simple  than  ours,  a  religion 
better  adapted  to  their  way  of  living  than  ours;  .... 
and  then  if  I  have  to  believe  that  Socrates  and  Plato  are 
both  damned?  That  is  what  I  often  asked  the  Bishop  of 
Evreux,  and  he  assured  me  that  God  might  possibly  work 
a  miracle  in  their  favor.  Do  you  believe  that  God  con- 
cerns himself  with  all  your  actions?" 

Gourgaud:  "Sire,  if  Your  Majesty  imagines  God  has 
only  the  same  capacities  as  a  man,  your  reasoning  would 
be  just.  But  the  Being  who  could  create  both  the  sun 
in  the  heavens  and  the  leaves  upon  the  trees  has  an  intel- 
ligence that  cannot  be  compared  with  mine.     Therefore, 

'  Gourgaud  also  says  :  "Sire,  when  1  consider  the  planets,  I  cannot  under- 
stand how  men  can  have  the  presumption  to  suppose  that  all  their  movements 
are  the  natural  effect  of  matter.  Who,  then,  created  matter,  if  not  a  superior 
being;  in  other  words,  God?  Laplace  himself  cannot  tell  us  what  the  sun  is, 
Dor  the  stars,  nor  the  comets  ;  yet  he  dares  to  declare  that  there  is  qo  God." 


276     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  HELENA 

if  I  measure  God  with  man,  my  reasoning  breaks  down. 
If  I  cannot  comprehend  how  the  sun  exists,  how  can  I 
comprehend  that  God  sees  everything  I  do?  For  in  fact, 
this  idea  is  not  harder  to  grasp  than  that  of  the  formation 
of  the  planets,  or  a  blade  of  grass.  God  has  not  given 
us  an  intelligence  which  has  power  to  solve  such  things." 

"It  is  true  that  the  idea  of  God  is  natural  to  man.  It 
has  existed  from  all  time  and  among  all  nations." 

One  day  in  April,  1817,  they  were  talking  about  the 
planetary  system,  and  Gourgaud  praised  the  Mécanique 
Céleste  of  Laplace. 

Napoleon:  "Laplace  made  a  detestable  Minister  of  the 
Interior  [under  the  Directory] .  His  great  friend  was 
Lagrange,  and  he  never  dared  to  speak  in  the  Institute 
without  consulting  him.  If  Lacroix  or  others  attacked 
him,  Lagrange  thundered  down  upon  them.  I  often 
asked  Laplace  what  he  thought  of  God.  He  owned  he 
was  an  atheist.  Many  crimes  have  been  committed  in 
the  name  of  religion.  The  oldest  religion  is  the  worship 
of  the  sun.  Where  is  the  soul  of  an  infant.-'  I  cannot 
remember  what  I  was  before  I  was  born;  and  what  will 
become  of  my  soul  after  my  death?  As  to  my  body,  it 
will  become  carrots  or  turnips.  I  have  no  dread  of  death. 
In  the  army  I  have  seen  many  men  suddenly  perish  who 
were  talking  with  me." 

"I  have  dictated  thirty  pages  on  the  world's  three 
religions;  and  I  have  read  the  Bible.  My  own  opinion  is 
made  up.  I  do  not  think  Jesus  Christ  ever  existed.'  I 
would  believe  in  the  Christian  religion  if  it  dated  from  the 
beginning    of    the    world.     That    Socrates,    Plato,    the 

'To  judge  correctly  the  real  opinions  of  the  Emperor  on  this  subject  we 
must  bear  in  mind  how  much  he  was  apt  to  be  animated  by  a  spirit  of  contra- 
diction. With  Gourgaud,  whom  he  thought  (whether  rightly  or  wrongly  is  no 
matter)  to  be  something  of  a  dévot,  we  see  how  he  could  express  himself.  To 
Antommarchi,  who  professed  to  be  a  materialist,  he  said  :  "Aspiring  to  be  an 
atheist  does  not  make  a  man  so";  and  to  Montholon,  "  1  know  men  well!  I  tell 
you  that  Jesus  Christ  was  not  a  m!^u."—Frenc/i  Editor. 


RELIGION  277 

Mohammedan,  and  all  the  English  should  be  damned  is 
too  absurd.  Jesus  was  probably  put  to  death,  like  many 
other  fanatics  who  proclaimed  themselves  to  be  prophets 
or  the  expected  Messiah.  Every  year  there  were  many 
of  these  men." 

"I  once  found  at  Milan  an  original  manuscript  of  the 
'Wars  of  the  Jews,'  in  which  Jesus  is  not  mentioned.^ 
The  Pope  pressed  me  to  give  him  this  manuscript.  What 
is  certain  is,  that  in  the  days  of  Jesus  public  opinion 
favored  the  worship  of  One  God,  and  those  who  first 
preached  that  doctrine  were  well  received  and  welcomed. 
It  would  have  been  so  in  my  own  case  if  from  the  lowest 
ranks  of  society  I  had  become  Emperor.  It  would  have 
been  because  circumstances  and  public  opinion  were  for 
me,  not  against  me." 

"I  read  the  Bible.  Moses  was  an  able  man.  The 
Jews  were  a  cowardly  and  cruel  people." 

"Egypt  is  the  country  which  seems  to  be  the  seat  of 
the  oldest  civilization.  Gaul,  Germany,  and  even  Italy 
followed  not  long  after,  but  I  think  that  emigration  west- 
ward probably  took  place  from  India  or  China,  where 
there  were  vast  populations,  rather  than  from  Egypt, 
which  had  only  a  few  thousand  inhabitants.  All  this 
makes  me  think  that  our  world  is  not  very  old,  or  at  least 
has  not  been  inhabited  by  man  from  very  ancient  times. 
Within  two  thousand  years  or  so  I  accept  the  chronology 
appended  to  the  Sacred  Writings.  I  think  that  man  was 
formed  by  the  action  of  the  heat  of  the  sun  upon  the  mud. 

»  Renan,  a  historian  not  likely  to  be  prejudiced  on  such  a  subject, 
accepted  the  pages  in  Josephus's  "  Antiquities  of  the  Jews"  that  treat 
of  the  preaching  of  Jesus  and  John  the  Baptist  in  Galilee,  as  genuine.  It  is 
true  that  in  some  original  MSS.,  like  the  one  Napoleon  met  with  at  Milan,  what 
he  said  on  this  subject  is  omitted.  It  seems,  however,  as  if  this  could  be  easily 
accounted  for.  Titus  was  so  pleased  with  the  work  that  he  signed  a  number  of 
copies  and  sent  them  to  the  chief  cities  of  his  empire.  Now,  as  Christ  was 
condemned  by  a  Roman  procurator  on  the  charge  of  treasonable  designs 
against  the  Roman  Emperor,  it  is  likely  that  in  the  copies  submitted  to  Titus 
the  passages  which  speak  of  Christ  as  a  wonderful  man  ("if  indeed  he  was  a 
man  ")  were  omitted.— ii",  W,  L. 


278     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA 

Herodotus  tells  us  that  in  his  day  the  slime  of  the  Nile 
changed  into  rats,  and  that  they  might  be  seen  in  process 
of  formation.  Can  any  one  tell  us  what  the  brain  is? 
All  things  can  be  explained  by  magnetism.  Where  is 
little  Arthur  Bertrand' s  soul?  The  soul  is  formed  as  the 
body  forms.  Knock  a  nail  into  your  head,  then  you 
become  a  madman,  and  then  where  is  your  soul?  It  is 
absurd  to  believe  that  at  the  Last  Judgment  we  must 
appear  in  the  flesh.  Why  should  we,  for  a  few  crimes 
committed  upon  earth,  be  punished  eternally?" 

"Say  what  you  like,  but  everything  is  more  or  less 
organized  matter.  When  I  have  had  stags  cut  open  in 
hunting,  I  saw  that  their  interior  was  like  that  of  man. 
Man  is  only  a  more  perfect  being  than  dogs  and  trees. 
Plants  are  the  first  link  in  the  chain  of  which  man  is  the 
last.  I  know  this  is  contrary  to  religion,  but  it  is  my 
opinion.  We  are  all  matter.  Man  was  created  by  a 
certain  warmth  in  the  atmosphere.  Man  is  young,  and 
the  earth  is  old.  The  human  race  has  not  existed  more 
than  six  or  seven  thousand  years,  and  thousands  of  years 
from  now  man  may  be  very  different  from  what  he  has 
been.  Science  may  then  have  made  such  progress  that 
mankind  may  perhaps  have  found  out  how  to  live  forever. 
Agricultural  chemistry  is  yet  in  its  infancy.  Not  many 
hundred  years  ago  we  found  out  extraordinary  properties 
in  certain  bodies,  but  we  cannot  explain  them — the 
loadstone,  electricity,  and  galvanism.  What  discoveries 
may  not  be  made  in  these  thousands  of  years!" 

"What  makes  me  think  that  there  is  not  a  God  who 
can  take  vengeance,  is  to  see  that  good  people  seem 
always  unfortunate  in  this  world,  and  rascals  lucky.     You 

will  see  that  Talleyrand  will  die  in  his  bed When 

I  see  that  a  dog  or  a  pig  has  a  stomach  and  can  eat,  I  say 
to  myself,  'I  have  a  soul,  they  must  have  one  too.'  Give 
my  watch  to  a  savage  and  he  will  think  it  has  a  soul." 


RELIGION  279 

Gourgaud  replies:  "But,  Sire,  that  just  proves  that 
there  is  a  God,  for  there  had  to  be  a  clock-maker  to  make 
the  watch.     What  can  make  itself  from  nothing?" 

"If  a  man  can  think,  it  is  because  his  nature  is  more 
perfect  than  that  of  a  fish.  When  my  digestion  is  bad,  I 
think  differently  from  what  I  do  when  I  feel  well.  Every- 
thing depends  on  matter.  If  I  had  beUeved  in  a  God  who 
punished  or  rewarded  us  according  to  our  deeds,  I  might 
have  lost  courage  in  battle." 

"A  man  may  have  no  religion,  but  may  yet  have 
morality.  He  must  have  morality  for  the  sake  of  society. 
MoraHty  for  the  better  classes,  the  scaffold  for  la 
canaille.  '  ' 

Then  Gourgaud  says:  "Sire,  I  think  the  laws  of 
morality  are  much  the  same  in  all  religions;  such  laws  are 
the  work  of  God.  He  may  be  worshipped  alike  by 
Catholics,  Protestants,  and  Turks.  All  prayers  may  be 
accepted  by  Him.  To  say  that  is  not  so,  would  be  like 
saying  that  all  prayers  must  be  in  the  same  language. 
The  incense  of  prayer  will  mount  always  to  God." 

"Bah,  Monsieur  Gourgaud!  And  do  you  think  that 
the  intelligence  that  regulates  the  movements  of  the 
planets  (and  this  intelligence  is  only  the  product  of  matter) 
looks  upon  the  actions  of  men,  and  takes  account  of 
them?" 

"Sire,  I  believe  in  God.  I  should  be  very  unhappy 
were  I  an  atheist." 

"Bah!  Look  at  Monge  and  Laplace.  Vanity  of 
vanities!" 

"Science,  which  has  disproved  that  the  earth  is  the 
centre  of  the  celestial  system,  struck  a  great  blow  at  reli- 
gion.    Joshua,  we   are  told,  stayed   the  sun,'   and  that 

•  "  It  is  really  astonishing,"  says  Herder,  "  that  this  fine  passage  (Joshua 
x.,6-14)  has  been  so  long  misunderstood.  We  are  expressly  told  that  it  is  an 
extract  from  the  Book  of  Jasher— a  collection  of  poems  on  the  heroic  deeds  of 
leaders  of  the  Israelites."     The  Book  of  Jasher  is  quoted  elsewhere  in  the 


2So     TALKS  OF  NAPOLEON  A  T  ST.  I/ELENA 

stars  will  fall  into  the  sea  from  heaven.  What  do  I 
say?     All  the  suns,  and  all  the  planets,  etc." 

"An  Itahan  prince  in  church  one  day  gave  a  piece  of 
gold  to  a  Capuchin  who  was  asking  alms  to  buy  souls  out 
of  purgatory.  The  monk,  enchanted  at  receiving  so  large 
a  sum,  exclaimed,  'Ah,  Monsignore,  I  see  thirty  souls 
departing  from  purgatory  and  entering  paradise!' 

"  'Do  you  really  see  them?' 

"  'Yes,  Monsignore.' 

"  'Then  you  may  give  me  back  my  gold  piece,  for 
those  souls  certainly  will  not  return  to  purgatory.' 

"That  is  how  men  are  imposed  upon Jesus 

said  he  was  the  Son  of  God,  and  yet  he  was  descended 
from  David.  I  like  the  Mohammedan  religion  best.  It 
has  fewer  incredible  things  in  it  than  ours.  The  Turks 
call  Christians  idolaters." 

His  Majesty  is  reading  the  Bible  with  his  map  at  hand, 
and  proposes  to  write  an  account  of  the  campaigns  of 
Moses. 

Gourgaud  adds:  "The  Emperor  dictated  a  note  to 
me,  to  prove  that  the  water  struck  out  of  a  rock  by 
Moses  could  not  have  quenched  the  thirst  of  two  milHons 
of  Israelites." 

Bible.  The  book  itself  is  now  lost.  Some  archaeologist  may  possibly  discover 
it  in  Egypt  or  elsewhere  among  papyri. 

At  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  or  beginning  of  the  nineteenth, 
several  versions  were  published  of  a  pretended  Book  of  Jasher.  The  passage 
in  Joshua  expressly  states  that  the  chiefs  of  five  clans  of  the  Amorites  gathered 
their  forces  to  make  war  on  the  Gibeonites,  who  were  in  alliance  with  the 
people  of  Israel.  Joshua,  receiving  tidings  of  this  raid,  made  a  night  march, 
surprised  the  Amorites  in  the  early  light  of  a  summer  day,  and  chased  them 
through  the  rocky  pass  of  Beth-horon  with  great  slaughter,  which  was  increased 
when  a  dense  thunder-cloud  blackened  the  heavens  and  enormous  hailstones 
fell  among  the  combatants.  Then  Joshua  (like  Aja.x)  prayed  for  light  ;  prayed 
that  the  sun  might  not  set,  and  night  add  to  the  darkness,  until  the  enemy  was 
subdued.  The  prayer  was  heard.  We  may  be  permitted  to  believe  that  the 
sun  in  its  glory  shone  out  before  sunset,  and  that  the  moon  was  bright  in  the 
valley  of  Ajalon  when  the  Israelites  completed  their  victory.— £.  IV.  L, 

THE    END. 


INDEX. 


Aboukir,  64, 118;  sword  of,  31. 
Abrantès,   Duchesse  d',   see  Junot, 

Madame. 
Acre,  6q,  70,  72,  232,  241;  Saint  John  d', 

6q. 
Adige  River,  5g. 
Agesilaus,  207. 
Agincourt,  190. 

Albert,  Mademoiselle  d',  138. 
Albuféra,  Duke  of,  see  Suchet,  Mar- 
shal. 
Aleppo,  70. 
Alexander  I.,  of  Russia,  go,  120,  122- 

127, 154-157,  163,  200. 
Alexander  the  Great,  67,  207-209. 
Alexandria,  65,  67. 
Algiers,  250. 
All,  Captain,  16, 
Alps  mountains,  60,  218. 
Amboise,  123. 
America,   7,   17,  39,  71,  72,  193,  252, 

264. 
Americans,  71. 
Amiens,  249;  peace  of  114,  117;  treaty 

of,  197. 

Amillet, ,  2. 

Ammon,  Temple  of,  67. 
Andréossi,  General,  156,  189. 
Angelican  religion,  274. 
Angoulème,    Duc    d',    176,    180,   199. 

Duchesse  d',  52,  153. 
Anjou,  Duke  of,  205. 
Antibes,  170-173,  178,  180. 
Antwerp,  187. 
Aosta,  80. 
Arabia,  29,  64,  68. 
Arabs,  66,  269. 
Arche  de  1'  Étoile,  87,  234. 
Archiépiscopal  Palace,  88,  loi. 
Arcis,  165. 

Arenberg,  Madame  d',  139. 
Arona,  80. 
Arras,  60. 
Artois,  Comte  d',  181,  199,  204. 


Asia,  71. 

Aspern,  133. 

Assassination,  projects  of,  83-84. 

Auerstadt,  120,  121. 

Augereau,  General,  123,  227. 

Augusta,  Princess  of  Saxony,  141. 

Austerlitz,  119,  120,  155,  210,  216, 
241. 

Austria,  79,  81,  116,  117,  132,  137,  139, 
140,  149,  155,  156,  157,  160,  162,  163, 
182,  183,  1S5,  190,  191,  202,  204,  222, 
226;  Emperor  of,  37,  61,  84, 128,  141, 
158,  163,  164,  191,  192,  226. 

Austrian  staff  officers,  131. 

Austrians,  59,  63,  79,  82,  ii8,  119,  132, 
134,  164,  igi,  203,  213,  215,  217,  222. 

Autichamps, d',  log. 

Autric, ,  3,  8,  II. 

Avesnes,  i,  2,  3. 

Avignon,  173. 

B 

Bacciochi,  Princess,  see  Bonaparte, 

Elisa. 
Badajos,  130. 

Baden,  Duke  of,  150;  Prince  of,  no. 
Bagration,  General,  155. 
Bard,  Fort,  78,  80,  218. 
Barras,  Comte  de,  49,  56-58,  61,  73- 

75- 

Barrère, ,  50. 

Barrière  de  Chaillot,  4. 

Basle,  92. 

Basque  Roads,  16. 

Bassano,  Duc  de,  2,  5,  6,  12,  129,  154, 

202. 

Bassville, ,  44. 

Bassy, ,  3. 

Bastiles,  87. 
Batavia,  71. 
Bathurst,  Lord,  25,  33, 

Batri, ,  6. 

Bautzen,  163. 

Bavaria,  202,  210,  248;    King  of,  150, 

151;  Queen  of,  125,  151. 


281 


282 


INDEX. 


"Bayadere,"  12, 14, 15. 

Beatrix,  Empress  of  Austria,  141. 

Beauchamp,  A.  de,li64. 

Beauharnais  Eugene  de,  56,  go,  119, 
135,  138, 140,  150,  151,  161,  162,  201. 

Beauharnais,  General,  55. 

Beauharnais,  Hortense  de,  see  Hor- 
tense  de  Beauharnais. 

Beauharnais,  Josephine  de,  see  Jo- 
sephine. 

Beaulieu,  General,  62. 

Beaumarchais,  P.  A.  C.  de,  258,  259. 

Beaumont,  2. 

Beaumont, ,  186. 

Beauvau, ,  227;  Madame  de,  136. 

Bec  du  Raz,  21. 

Beker,  General,  6-10,  13-15,  20. 

Belgians,  202. 

Belgium,  3,  139,  202,  243. 

"Bellerophon,"  14,  15,  20,  22,  23,  25. 

Belliard,  General,  44,  45. 

Bender,  68,  255. 

Benevento,  Prince  of,  see  Talley- 
rand. 

Benningsen,  General,  122. 

Beresina  River,  158,  161,  227. 

Berlin,  121,  200;  decrees,  121. 

Bernadette,  Marshal,  30,  60,  105,  123, 
124,  134,  164,  224,  226. 

Berry,  Due  de,  153;  Duchesse  de,  90. 

Berry-au-Bac,  3. 

Berthier,  Marshal,  65,  124,  132,  139, 
161, 163, 187,  227,  244,  245,  247,  248. 

Berthollet, ,  270,  274,  275. 

Bertrand,  Arthur,  278;  General,  2,  4, 
7,  9,  10,  13-16,  19,  20,  24,  26-29,  31, 
68, 108, 149, 166, 168, 177,  180, 185,  225, 
239,  263,  266;  Madame,  8,  10,  12,  18, 
22,  24-28,  30,  112,  148,169. 

Berwick, ,  60. 

Bessières,  Marshal,  104,  159,  188,  211, 
236.  245. 

Besson  Captain,  16. 

Beurnonville,  General,  46. 

Bicêtre,  84. 

Billaud, ,  48. 

Billaud-Varennes,  75. 

Bingham,  Sir  George,  28. 

Blacas, ,  33.  77. 

Black  Rocks,  21. 

Blacke, ',1130. 

Blockade,  Continental,  121, 132. 

BlUcber,  General,  123, 186, 189. 


Bohemia,  132. 

Boleyn,  Anne,  205. 

Bonaparte,  Brother  Bonifacio,  35,  87; 
Caroline,  Queen  of  Naples,  135,  140, 
149;  Charles,  36;  Elisa,  Princess 
Bacciochi,  119;  Jerome,  King  of 
Westphalia,  119,  147,  148  (note),  153; 
Joseph,  King  of  Spain,  6,  10,  12,  38, 
44,  45,  119,  123,  129,  130,  142-144,  261; 
Louis,  King  of  Holland,  36,  119, 
144-146,  149,  150;  Lucien,  36,  139, 
146,  147;  Madame,  37,  38,  149,  150, 
169;  Napoleon  Louis,  150;  Pauline, 
36,  140,  148. 

Bonaparte  family,  35-39. 

Bonnefoux, ,  11. 

Bordeaux,  14,  16,  203. 

Borisov,  159. 

Bormida  River,  79. 

Borodino,  see  Moskwa. 

Boudet,  General,  80. 

Boufflers, ,  125. 

Bouille,  Madame  de,  90. 

Boule  d'Or,  Hotel,  10. 

Boulogne,  49,  115-117. 

Bourbon,  Due  de,  in;  Isle  of,  71. 

Bourbons,  12,  17,  51,  77,  78, 82, 113,  128, 
129,  167,  173,  199,  200,  202,  204,  205, 
248. 

Bourgeois,  Colonel,  10. 

Bourgoing,  Père,  41. 

Bourmont,  L.  A.  V.,  225. 

Bourrienne,  L.  A.  F.,  98. 

Bowen,  Captain,  246. 

Boyer, ,  181. 

Braunau,  234. 

Brayer, ,  175,  176. 

Brest,  115,  116,  201. 

Briars,  243. 

Brienne,  39,  40,  41,  88,  163,  227. 

Brignole,  Madame  de,  246, 

Brittany,  Duke  of,  205. 

Broglie, ,  262. 

Brumaire,  73-76. 

Brunswick,  Duke  of,  46, 123, 125, 

Brussels,  139. 

Bry,  Jean  de,  61. 

Bunbury, ,  25,  27. 

Buonarotti,  see  Bonaparte. 

Buonaventura,  Fra,  35. 

Burgundy,  203. 

Busaco,  130. 

Busche, ,  10. 


INDEX. 


283 


Cadoudal,  Georges,  93,  94,  104-ioq, 
114. 

Caesar,  207-210,  233. 

Caffarelli.  General,  65,  66,  224;  Ma- 
dame, 6,  8. 

Cairo,  64,  65,  72. 

Calabria,  182. 

Calais,  114.223. 

Calder,  Sir  Robert,  115,  116. 

Calonne, ,  1,%. 

Cambacérès,  J.  J.  R..  48, 51,  54,77,107. 
13g,  193,  262. 

Cambon,  J.,  192. 

Cambronne,  General,  172-174,  225. 

Campbell,  Sir  Neil,  168,  i6g. 

Campo  Formio,  Treaty  of,  63. 

Canisy,  Madame  de,  see  Vicence, 
Duchesse  de. 

Cannœ,  12g. 

Cannes,  175. 

Capauchins,  36,  87. 

Cape  Colony,  14g. 

Caraman, ,  201. 

Carignan, ,  201. 

Carion, ,  5. 

Carlsruhe,  iio. 

Carnot,  75, 184, 193,  194.  233-236. 

Carrier,  J.  B.,  47-50,  61. 

Casali,  Cardinal,  271. 

Caselli,  Cardinal,  272. 

Cassano,  81. 

Castiglione,  227. 

Castlereagh,  Lord,  33. 

Catherine  of  Russia,  63. 

Caulaincourt,  General,  3,  iio,  m,  125, 
140,  160,  163,  268. 

Ceracchi,  83. 

Chabran,  80. 

Chabrillant, ,  264. 

Chaillot,  107. 

Chambéry,  60. 

Champ  de  Mai,  191;  sword  of, 
31. 

Champagne,  46,  88,  125,  256. 

Champagny,  J.  B.  N.,  154. 

Championnet,  241. 

Champs  Elysée,  4. 

Chaptal, ,  85. 

Charlemagne,  208. 

Charleroi,  i.  186. 

Charles  V.,  69. 


Charles,  Archduke  of  Austria,  60,  131- 

133.  232. 
Charles  IV.,  King  of  Spain,  123. 
Charles,  Prince  of  Lorraine,  2x3,  214, 

216. 
Charlotte,  Princess,  203,  243. 
Chartran,  General,  5,6. 

Châtaux, ,  227. 

Chateau-Renaud,  9. 
Chateaubriand,  200,  269. 
Châteaudun,  7. 
"Chatham,"  21. 
Châtillon,  108,  266. 
Chatou,  6. 

Chaumette, ,  48. 

"Chaumière  Indienne,"  268. 
Chauveau-Lagarde,  52. 
Cherbourg,  201. 

Chiappe, .  3,  8,  i86. 

China,  69,  71,  102,  277. 

Chivasso,  80. 

Choiseul,  E.  F.,  223. 

Chouans,  93,  104,  log. 

Christina,    Queen    of    Sweden,    268, 

269. 
"Clarissa  Harlowe,"  3g. 
Clausel,   General,    14,   30,    187,    190, 

201. 
Cobentzel,  Comte  de,  63. 
Cockburn,  Admiral,  27,  28. 
Coimbra,  131. 
Colonna,  183. 
Commerce  and  Manufactures,  85-86. 

Comminge, ,  107. 

Committee  of  Public  Safety,  50,  75. 
Concordat,  100-102. 
Condé,  General,  210,  211,  213. 
Constant,  Benjamin,  261. 
Constantinople,  123,  156-158. 
Constituent  Assembly,  45-47. 
Corday,  Charlotte,  49. 
Corsica,  36-39,  141,  167,  ig7,  267. 
Corsicans,  141,  182,  222. 
Corvisart,  Baron,  43,  140,  152,  153. 
Cossacks,  70,  123,  156,  158, 163. 
Côte  d'Or,  43. 
Cour-de-France,  165. 
Crécy,  igo. 
Cremona,  80,  213. 

Crétin, ,  65. 

Cromwell,  Oliver,  195,  258,  269. 

Crusaders,  273. 

Czai  toryski.  Prince,  126. 


284 


INDEX. 


D 


Dalamatia,  Duke  of,  see  Soult,  Mar 
sbal. 

Dalton, ,  4- 

Damanhour,  64. 
Damas,  Roger  de,  181. 

Danican, ,  S4- 

Danton,  G.  J.,  47.  48. 
Dantzic,  121,  122,  236. 
Danube  River,  5o,  133.  i34. 
Darfur,  66. 
Darius,  208. 

Darrican, ,  I94- 

Daru, ,  ig6. 

Daun,  Marshal,  213,  218. 

Dauphiné,  181. 

David,  IQ7.  280. 

Davout,  Marshal,  6,  65,  120,  123,  125, 

132-134,  154.  i59i  194,  226,  264,  265. 
Decrès,  6. 
Dejean,  Comte,  3,  165. 

Delessert,  ,  Q^- 

Delmas, ,  100. 

Denain,  230. 

Desaix,  General,  30, 64,  65,  72,  79.  224, 

226,  232. 
Diamond  necklace,  52. 
Dibdin,  Thomas,  115. 
Dieppe,  121. 

Directory,  61,  65,  74.  75.  84.  8b,  226,  244. 
Dniester  River,  159. 
Doret,  Ensign,  12  (note). 
Dresden,  140,  iS5. 156. 161-164.  254. 266. 
Drouot,  General,  2,  3,  6,  168,  169, 180, 

186,  190,  225,  226,  239,  248. 
Dubois,  Baron,  41.  152. 
Duchâtel,  Madame,  5. 

Duhesme, ,  186. 

Dumanoir, ,  118. 

Dumas,  59;  General,  65;  M.,  3. 

Dumouriez,  46. 

Dunkirk,  60. 

Dupont,  General,  54,  257- 

Dupuis, ,  71- 

Dupuy,  General,  2. 
Duroc,  General,  78,  84,  92.  127,  226 
227,  25g. 

Durosnel, ,  181. 

Dutch,  71.  256,  257- 


Eble, ,  226. 

Eckmûhl,  143- 


École  Polytechnique,  215. 

Egypt,  29,  33,  43.  57.  64-73.  157.  160. 

192,  207,  209,  219,  232,  241,  244,  246, 

247,  272,  274,  277. 
Elba,  8,  17,  32,  33.  5^.  i40,  148.  151. 163. 

167-169,  171,  178,  180,  182,  183,   191, 

192,  197,  222,  225,  253. 
Elbing,  82. 
Elchingen,  118. 
Élie,  Brother,  40. 
Elizabeth,  Madame,  52. 
Elleviou,  56. 
Elysée,  Palace  of  the,  4. 
Enghien,  Duc  d',  109-112, 114, 116, 194. 
England,  17,  20,  21,  23,  25,  29,  49,  71, 

72,  95,  no,  114,  116,  117,  120-122, 132, 

143,  144,  155,  157.  162.  169,  184,  192, 
197,  198,  201,  203-206,  230,  243,  244, 
246,  252,  255,  265. 
English,  15,  19.  25,  32.  50.  67,  70-72, 
97,  129,  130,  162,  177.  178.  186-190, 
200,  202,  233,  238,  243,  250,-256,1258, 

277. 
Enzendorf,  133. 
"Épervier,"  i3- 
Equator,  Crossing  the.  Ceremony  of, 

31. 
Erfurt,  123,  157.  i6o- 
Erlon,  Drouet  d',  181, 188. 

Ernouf, ,  260. 

Essling,  132-134,  210. 
Estève,  106. 
Etruria,  Queen  of,  146. 
Eugene,  Prince,  213. 
Eugene  de  Beauharnais,  see  Beau- 
harnais,  Eugene  de. 

Euphrates  River,  67. 

"Eurotas,  "  23,  24,  26. 

Évain, ,  118,  236. 

Evreux,  Bishop  of,  275. 

Excelmans, ,  184. 

Exeter,  22. 

Eylau,  63,  82,  122. 


Fain,  Baron,  4,  6,  99. 

Faubourg  Saint-Honoré,  107;  Saint- 
Jacques,  107. 

Fédérés,  4,  193,  194- 

Ferdinand,  Archduke,  118. 

Ferdinand  VIL,  of  Spain,  123, 128-130, 
267. 

Fesch,  Cardinal,  i37- 


INDEX. 


285 


Feuquières, ,  60,  213. 

Figaro,  96,  258. 

Flahaut,  General,  2,  3,  6,  7,  180. 

Fleurus,  186,  188,  22g. 

Fleury, ,  6,  96. 

Florence,  39;  Duke  of,  37. 

Florian,  J.  P.  C,  268. 

Fontaine, ,  87,  235,  236. 

Fontainebleau,  43,  51,  69,  go,  135,  162, 
163,  167,  168,  228,  231. 

Fontenoy,  213,  220,  230. 

Fouché,  5,  73,  89,  91,  92,  94-g7, 138, 139, 
187,  194-196,  221,  263,  264. 

Fouras,  13. 

France,  7.  8,  13,  16,  17,  30,  32,  33,  37- 
3g,  45.  47.  49.  55.  58,  60,  61,  65,  68,  6g, 
71,  72,  81-83,  85,  87-8g,  94,  98,  ICI, 
105,  log,  III,  113,  114,  116,  117,  120, 
121,  123,  125,  129,  130,  136,  137,  140, 
157,  162,  163,  167-169,  182-185,  187, 
i90-ig2,  igs,  ig6,  ig8,  201-206,  208, 
218,  2ig,  224,  235-238,  243,  244,  251, 
252,  254,  256-258,  260,  266,  267,  26g, 
273- 

France,  île  de,  71. 

Francis  I.,  of  Austria,  see  Austria, 
Emperor  of. 

Francis  1.,  of  France,  6g. 

Francis  Joseph,  see  Austria,  Emperor 
of. 

Frankfort,  214. 

Frederick,  tlie  Great,  124,  211,  213- 
218. 

French,  2g,  55,  71,  72,  81,  84,  134,  162, 
200,  203,  213,  217. 

French  Revolution,  see  Revolution. 

Fréron,  47,  4g,  50. 

Fresnes, ,  253. 

Friant, ,  186,  216. 

Friedland,  122,  124,  226. 

Frioul,  80;  Due  de,  226. 


Gambier,  Captain,  20,  22. 

Gamot, ,  17g. 

Gap,  173. 

Garan, ,  173. 

Garfagnana,  119. 
Gascon,  224. 

Gassendi, ,  226,  230,  241. 

Gassion, ,  139. 

Gaudin, ,  253. 


Gaul,  69,  277. 

Gauls,  igg. 

Gavais, ,  43. 

Genappe,  187. 

Genoa,  7g,  81,  82,  246,  250. 

Genty,  Lieutenant,  12  (note). 

Georges,  Mademoiselle,  30. 

Gérard,  General,  30,  165,  176,  17g,  224, 
231- 

Germany,  60,  69,  128,  162,  167,  206, 208, 
217,  277. 

"Gerusalemme  Liberate,"  39. 

Ghent,  198,  260. 

"Gil  Bias,"  262. 

Girard, ,  188. 

Gironde  River,  12,  13. 

Girondins,  55. 

Gohier, ,  74, 

Gonesse,  6. 

Gonsalvi,  Cardinal,  272. 

Gontaut-Biron,  M.  de,  138. 

Gourgand,  General,  2,  9,  29,  32,  33,  50, 
63.  67,  68,  73,  82,  108,  III,  114,  116, 
119,  123,  131,  133,  135,  143,  157,  159- 
166,  168,  176,  178,  185,  189,  194,  198, 
201,  202,  206,  208,  210,  211,  225,  227, 
231,  232,  248,  250,  254,  259,  262,  267, 
26g,  273-276,  27g. 

Government,  Provisional,  7,  8,  14. 

Grand  Cerf  tavern,  10. 

Grasse,  170,  173. 

Gratz,  145. 

Greeks,  156-158,  207. 

Grenoble,  60,  78,  i6g-i73,  175,  178,  180, 
181. 

Grenville,  Lord,  ig7,  204. 

Grey,  Lord,  ig7. 

Gribeauval,  J.  B.  V.,  230. 

Grosbois,  ic6. 

Grouchy,  General,  3,  186,  i8g. 

Guadeloupe,  260,  265. 

Guastalla,  iig. 

Guicbe,  Madame,  82. 

Guillemin, ,  108. 

Guise,  3. 

Gustavus  Adolphus,  41,  20g,  210. 

Guyot,  General,  186,  189, 

H 

Hamburg,  154. 

Hamelin,  Madame,  igo,  254. 

Hannibal,  210,  233. 


2S6 


INDEX. 


Hanover,  117. 

Haxo, ,  235,  236. 

Hébert, ,  48. 

Hédouville,  General,  73,  74. 

Heliopolis,  72. 

Henri  II.  of  France,  266;  IV.  141,  205, 

218,  2ig. 
Henry  VIII.  of  England,  68,  205. 
"Henriade,"  219. 
Herbois,  Collot  d',  48,  75- 
Herodotus,  69,  278. 
Hoche,  232. 
Hochstadt,  213. 

Hohenzollern,  House  of,  120,  124. 
Holland,  iig;  Lord,  203,  204. 
Holland,  Queen  of,  see  Hortense  de 

Beauharnais. 
Hondschoote,  60. 
Honfleur,  121. 
Hortense   de    Beauharnais,    56,    135, 

137,  140,  145.  150.  I79>  180. 
Hotham,  Admiral,  21,  22. 
Hotier,  105. 

Hubert, ,  267. 

Hulin, ,  194. 

Hull, ,  27. 

Hume,  David,  205. 


Île  d'  a IX,  10, 14. 15. 19. 

lie  de  Sein,  21. 

Imbault,  Madame,  9. 

Imperial  Library,  39. 

India,  29,  66,  67,  69-71,  144,  277. 

Indies,  202. 

Iron  Mask,  Man  in  the,  37. 

Isabey,  E.  L.  G.,  136. 

Israelites,  280. 

Issus,  208. 

Italians,  87,  222. 

Italy,  33,  35.  43.  61,  63-65,  69,  73.  74.  78, 
87,  88,  loi,  117.  119,  123,  151,  167,  183, 
202,  211,  213,  218,  222,  244,  255,  257. 
277;  Campaign  with  the  army  of, 
1796-1797,  58-63;  second  campaign 
in,  78-82. 

J 

Jacobinism,  243- 
Jacobins,  91,  95,  243. 
Jamestown,  246. 
Jena,  119-121, 123-125,  187,  241. 


Jerusalem,  69. 

Jews,  273,  277. 

Joachim,  see  Murat,  Marshal. 

John,    Archduke,    of    Austria,    134; 

Prince,  of  Austria,  60. 

Jomini, ,  215. 

Jordan  River,  272. 

Josephine,  55,  56,  74,  82,  88,  90,  94, 103, 

104,   112,  116,  135-141,  150,  163,  170, 

172,  245,  246. 
Josephus,  272. 
Joshua,  279. 
Jouan,  Gulf  of,  171. 
Jourdan,  General,  59,  232,  233. 
Judea,  272,  273. 
Junot,  General,  43,  92,   123,  160,  225; 

Madame,  33. 
Jupiter,  271. 
Jupiter  Ammon,  Temple  of,  209. 

K 

Kalouga,  159. 

Keith, ,  72;  Admiral,  21,  23-27. 

Kellerman,  General,  46,  79. 

Kerkadin, ,  10. 

Kingdoms    bestowed    by  Napoleon, 

119. 
Kleber,  General,  30,  65,  72,  73,  102, 

226,  232. 
Kollin,  213,  218. 
Konigsburg,  121. 
Koran,  269. 
Kosciusko,  125. 
Kourakme,  M.  de,  154. 
Koutouzoff,  General,  157, 159,  160. 
Kray,  General,  60. 
Kremlin,  159,  208. 
Kulm,  164. 


La  Haie-Sainte,  189. 

La  Réveillière,  61. 

La  Vendée,  50, 108, 188, 190. 

La  Veuve,  39. 

La  Ville,  César,  5. 

Labédoyère,  General,  2,  3,  6,  7,  175, 

179-181,  184,  185,  224,  226. 
Lacretelle,  J.C.  D.,  258. 

Lacroix, ,  276. 

Lafayette,  Marquis  de,  46,  I44i  I94i 

196. 


INDEX. 


287 


Lafitte, ,  96. 

Laforêt, ,  89. 

Lagrange,  —  ,  274,  276. 
Labarpe,  General,  62. 

Lajolais, ,  104. 

Lallemand, ,  ii,  13,  14,  16,  17,  ig, 

33,  25,  28. 

Laraarque, ,  187. 

Landau,  188. 
Landshut,  132,  211. 
Languedoc,  261, 

Lanjuinais, ,  103,  194. 

Lannes,  General,  30,  65,  78,  91,  123, 

143,    188,    226,    227;    Madame,  see 

Montebello,   Madame  de. 
Laon,  3. 

Lapie,  General,  169. 
Laplace,  Marquis  de,l86,  251,  268,  270, 

274-276,  279. 

Lapoype, ,  80. 

Lariboisière, ,  i,  4,  6,  226. 

Las  Cases,  Comte  de,  5,  8,  11,  12,  14, 

19,  20,  22-24,  27-29,  32,  33,  52,  no, 

112,  155. 

Lasalle, ,  133. 

Lauraguais,  Due  de,  73. 

Lauriston, ,  154,  227. 

Lavalette,    ,    6,    17,    19,    8g,   90; 

Madame  de,  145. 
Lawfeld,  213. 
Lebrun,  C.  F.,  77,  98,  107,  246,  261. 

Lecchi, ,  80. 

Lecourbe,  107,  179;  General,  224. 
Lefebvre,  Marshal,  229,  236. 
Leghorn,  168,  169. 
Legion  of  Honor,   100,  257;  Cross  of 

the,  22,  24,  177. 
Legrand,  General,  226. 

Leibnitz, ,  275. 

Leipsic,  163,  164,  214,  221. 

Lemarois, ,  54,  55. 

Leoben,  61. 

Léon, ,  207. 

Lepelletier,  Felix,  192. 
Leridan,  — -,  107. 
Les  Sables,  13. 

Letourneur, ,  44,  253. 

"Lifïey,"  22,  24. 
Ligny,  124,  186-188. 
Ligurian,  Republic,  117. 
Lille,  178;  Comte  de,  83. 
Lillicrap,  Captain,  23. 
Limoges,  8. 


Lintz,  133. 

Littleton, ,  28. 

Lobau,  Comte  de,  164,  186;  Island  of, 

133- 
Loire  River,  48,  88,  235. 

Loison, ,  80. 

Lombardy,  117. 

Lonato,  261. 

London,    19-23,    165,    197,    256,   258; 

Tower  of,  15;  bankers,  258. 
Longwood,  63,  i66,  268. 

Lorge, ,  80. 

Lorraine,  Prince  of,  215. 

Louis  IX.,  218,  2ig;  XIII.,  45;  XIV.. 

37,  91,  203,   218-220;  XV.,  91,  220; 

XVI.,   44-46,    49,    51,  78,    194,   254; 

XVIII.,  82,  83,  95,  98,  III,  112,  163, 

167, 176,  198-200,  202-206,  266. 
Louis  Philippe,  see  Orleans,  Duke  of. 
Louvre,  53. 

Lovelace, ,  39. 

Lowe,  Sir  Hudson,  33  (note),  166,  204, 

258,  263. 
Lowther,  Lord,  28. 
Lucca,  119,  16;. 

Luchesine, de,  90. 

Lugano,  59. 

Luther,  Martin,  68. 

Lutzen,  128,  238. 

Luxembourg,  61,  73;  General,  213. 

Lyonnais,  256. 

Lyons,  38,  48-50,  64,  88,  175,  176,  179, 

181,  203;  Academy  of,  42. 

M 

Macdonald,  General,  100,  107,  164, 

165,  260. 
Macedonians,  208. 
Mack,  General,  117,  118. 
Madame      mère,      see      Bonaparte, 

Madame. 
Madeira,  30. 
Madrid,  45,  144. 

Magallon, ,  64. 

Magdeburg,  124-127,  210,  214, 
Mahomet,  see  Mohammed. 
Mahrattas,  67. 

Maignet, ,  42. 

Maingaud,  Dr. ,23. 
Maintenon,  Madame  de,  255. 

Maison, ,  231. 

Maitland,  Captain,  20-26,  28. 


288 


INDEX. 


Malmaison,  4-8,  41,  106,  163,  184,  iq6, 

ig7,  264. 
Maloi-Yaroslavitz,  15g. 

Malouet, ,  8g. 

Malta,  114,  ii7;  Knights  of,  21Q. 

Mamelukes,  64,  65. 

Manufactures,   see   Commerce    and 

Manufactures. 
Mantua,  80,  81,  22g. 
Marat,  Jean  Paul,  47,  4g. 
Marathon,  207. 
Marchand,  General,  5,  8,  24,  174,  i75i 

180,  263,  267. 
Marchiennes,  188. 

Marengo,  79,  80,  83,  117,  218,  221,  247. 
Marie  Antoinette,  51,  52. 
Marie  Louise,  37,  51,  135-137.  139-141. 

152,  153,  156. 
Marmont,  General,  134,  164,  227,  228 

(note),  248,  250. 
Marne,  165. 

Mars,  Mademoiselle,  248. 
Marseilles,  42,  4g,  50,  180. 
Martinique,  113. 
Mary,  Queen  of  England,  205. 
Massa-Carrara,  iig. 
Massena,  General,  81,  82,  123,  130,  131, 

17g,  180,  26g. 

Masson, ,  218. 

Maumusson,  11,  16. 

Maximilian,  Emperor,  208. 

Mayence,  102. 

Measures,  see  Weights  and  Measures. 

Mecca,  67,  20g,  255. 

Mediterranean,  117. 

"Méduse,"  12,  15. 

Mêlas,  General,  7g-8i. 

Melville,  Lord,  25. 

Meneval, ,  gg. 

Menou,  General,  65,  67,  2og. 

Merlin, ,  61. 

Mesgrigny, ,5. 

Metiernich.  Prince,  37,  bi,  92,  g3,  96, 

128, 135,  222. 
Metz,  188. 
Mézières,  2. 

Michels,  Des, ,  173. 

Milan,  40,  80,  117,  151,  277. 
Milanese,  81. 

Milowski, ,  170. 

Mincio  River,  5g. 

Mohammed,  68,  70,  255,256,262,  271. 

Mohammedan  religion,  274,  275,  280. 


Mohammedans,  65,  250, 273, 275, 277. 
Moldavia,  154,  15g. 

Molitor, ,  268. 

Mollien, ,  g6,  253. 

Monaco,    Dr.,    i6g;    Prince   of,    170- 

172. 
Moncey,  Marshal,  80,  177,  227. 
Monge,  G.,  270,  274,  27g. 
Mont  Tarare,  78. 

Montalivet, ,  184. 

Montaran, ,  5,  7. 

Monte  Argentario,  44. 

Monte  Notte,  37. 

Montebello,  Madame  de,  gi,  136,  140, 

152. 
Montecucculi,  General,  2ir. 
Monteleone,  222. 
Montélimart,  172. 
Montenegrins,  268. 
Montereau,  227. 

Montesquiou, ,  2,  186,  i8g,  201,  233, 

267;  Abbé  de,  83;  Madame  de,  152. 
Montholon,  General,  5,  6,  8,  12,  26-30, 
log,  123,  145,  182,  231,  258,  263,  267; 
Madame  de,  8,  11,  20,  24, 27,  28,  210, 
268. 
Montmartre,  87,  88,  234,  235. 
Montmorency,  Constable  de,  6g;  Ma 
dame  de,  g6;  Mathieu  de,  144;  Raoul 
de,  g. 

Montmorin, ,  45, 129. 

Montpellier,  36. 
Montrond,  g4. 
Moore,  Sir  John,  132,  233. 
Moreau,  General,  5g,  93,  g4,  103-iog, 
114, 163,  164,  232,  233;  Madame,  102- 
104. 

Mortier, ,  186. 

Moscow,  155-160,  246,  266. 

Moses,  271,  277,  280. 

Moskwa,  iig,  130, 158,  160,  161,  245. 

Moulin, ,  75. 

Mounier, ,  80. 

Mourad    Bey     (Napoleon's    horse), 

255. 
Mozhaisk,  15g. 
Muiron,  General,  54, 
Munich,  150,  151. 
Murad  Bey,  64. 

Murât,  Marshal,  King  of  Naples,  30, 
38,  53.  54,  94,  119.  142,  153.  159-162. 
178,  182,  183,  igi,  221,  222,  227,  236, 
250. 


INDEX. 


289 


N 


Nangis,  238. 

Nansouty,  General,  227. 

Nantes,  50;   Bishop  of,  135,  137,  i39. 

271,  273. 

Narbonne, ,  136,  140,  154,  259. 

Nariskine,  Princess,  126. 

Naples,   iig,   168,   i6g;    King  of,  see 

Murât,   Marshal,   King  of   Naples; 

Queen  of,  see  Bonaparte,  Caroline, 

Queen  of  Naples. 
Napolton  II.,  23,  184,  202,  203,  206,  265. 
Naumburg,  120,  123. 
Neapolitans,  222. 
Necker,  J.,  45. 

Ncipperg, ,  140. 

Nelson,  Lord,  116,  118,  236. 
Nero,  205,  25g,  260,  266. 
Neuburg,  123. 
Neuville,  Hyde  de,  82. 

Newton, ,  275. 

Ney,  Marshal,  82,  123,  161,  177,  17g, 

184,  185,  189,  igi,  ig3,  221,  223-225, 

227,  236,  245. 
Nice,  5g,  88. 

Niémen  River,  122,  134,  154,  155. 
Nile,  6g,  70,  278. 
Niort,  7, 10, 
Nivernois,  Due  de,  56. 
Noailles,  Hôtel  de,  54. 
"Northumberland,"  27-29,  no, 
Notre  Dame,  116. 
"Nouvelle  Héloïse,"  244. 

o 

Oder  River,  214. 

O'Meara, ,  263. 

Orbitello,  44. 

Ordener,  ,  no. 

Orleans,  8,  11;  Duke  of,  46,  4g,  ço,  ig4, 
203,  204. 

Ornano, ,  d',  25g 

Ossakoff, ,  130. 

Ostrowo,  160. 
Otrante,  Due  de,  g6. 
Otranto,  Duke  of,  g4. 

Ott, .  78. 

Ouessant,  21. 

Ouverture,  Toussaint  L',  113. 

Ouvrard, ,  g4. 

Ozier, ,  d',  g3. 


Pajol,  General,  189. 

Pantheon,  49. 

Paoli,  General,  38,  39. 

Paris,  2-12,  14,  15,  20,  30,  35,  36,  39,  42- 
52,  54-56,  61,  64,  75,  83,  86-89,  92-  93, 
loi,  104, 106,  no,  114, 115, 139, 158, 162, 
165, 172, 176-179, 183-185,  i92-ig5, 201, 
208,  219,  222,  223,  233,  234,  237,  244, 
245,  252,  254-257,  259,  260,  262,  263, 
264,  267,  270. 

Parisians,  55,  87-89,  235,  266. 

Parma,  252,  257. 

Parmenio, ,  209. 

Pasha,  The,  69. 

Pastrengo,  59. 

Patrault,4o,  41. 

Paul  1.  of  Russia,  127,  156. 

"  Paul  and  Virginia,  "  268. 

Pavia,  78,  80,  221. 

Pellair, ,  267. 

Perregaux,  Mademoiselle,  228. 

Persia,  67,  207;  King  of,  208. 

Peter  HI.  of  Russia,  127. 

Philibert,  Captain,  13,  ig. 

Philippeville,  2,  3. 

Piacenza,  62,  80. 

Pichegru,  General,  32,  40,  82,  93,  94, 
102-109, 114. 

Pignerol,  Governor  of,  37. 

Piombino,  Gulf  of,  44. 

Pire,  General,  5,  6,  132. 

Pirna,  214. 

Pisa,  256. 

Pitt,  William,  97. 

Pius  Vn.,  271,  275. 

Pizzighetone,  80. 

Place  de  Carrousel,  82;  la  Madeleine, 
104. 

Place  Vendôme,  105. 

Planât,  ,  3,  8,  11,  15,  23. 

Plantation  House,  263. 

Plato,  271,  272,  275,  276. 

Plymouth,  21,  22. 

Po  River,  62,  80,  81,  183. 

Poitiers,  7,  10. 

Poland,  121,  122,  124,  125,  141,  155,  157, 
160,  206. 

Police,  8g-g2. 

Polignac, ,  108,  log. 

Pompadour,  Madame  de,  217. 

Ponée,  Captain,  12  (note),  13,  19. 


290 


INDEX. 


Pons,  180. 

Pope,  35,  36,  44,  68,  6g,  70,  88,  loi,  102, 
116,  146,  197,  208,  219,  254,  274,  277. 

Pope  Pius  Vll.,  see  Pius  VII. 

Porto  Ferrajo,  168,  169. 

Portugal,  91, 122,  130,  131,  162. 

Portuguese,  162. 

Post  Office,  89,  90. 

Pradt,  Abbé  de,  91,  266. 

Prague,  128,  132, 162,  213-216. 

Praslin, ,  227. 

Prefects,  86. 

Presburg,  60;  Treaty  of,  120. 

"Prometheus,"  26. 

Prony, ,  251. 

Protestants,  273. 

Provence,  180,  261. 

Provisional  Government,  see  Govern- 
ment, Provisional. 

Prudhon, ,1136. 

Prussia,  90,  116,  117,  120,  127,  134, 155, 
156,  160,  i62,:202,  211,  243;  King  of, 
120,  121,  123-127;  Queen  of,  125-127. 

Prussians,  119,  120,  163,  185,  187,  188, 
190,  218. 

Pyrenees  Mountains,  162. 

Q 

Quatre  Bras,  185,  189. 
R 

Rambouillet,  7. 

Rapp, ,  188. 

Rastadt,6i. 

Raucourt,  Mademoiselle,  90. 

Reade,  Sir  Thomas,  166. 

Real, ,'73,  93,  96,  105-107. 

Red  Sea,  66,  70. 

Reformation,  69. 

Regnault,     2,      142,     184,    189,     193; 

Madame,  5. 

Régnier, ,  106. 

Reichstadt,  Due  d',  see  Rome    King 

of. 
Reign  of  Terror,  48,  75. 
Religion,  270-280. 
Republic,  gi,  106. 

Résigny, ,  3,  7,  8. 

Retz,  Cardinal  de,  262. 

Revolution,  59,  60,  94,  96,  98,  140,  184, 

199,  202,  206,  220,  232,  258,  273. 
Revolution  and  its  leaders,  44-52. 
Rewbell, ,  58. 


Rey, ,  174,  186. 

Reynier, ,  131. 

Rheims,  2,  3. 

Rhine,  Confederation  of  the,  120,  123. 

Rhine  River,  73,  102,  no,  117, 120, 124, 

213,  220,  243. 
Rhone  River,  59,  175. 
Richelieu,  Due  de,  98,  230. 
Riga,  159. 
Rivalto,  79. 

Rivière, ,  109. 

Robespierre,  42,  47,  48,  50. 
Rochefort,  7, 10, 11,  13, 19. 
Rochelle,  16. 
Rocroy,  2. 

Roederer, ,  51,  52,  73. 

Roguet, ,  235,  236. 

Rolland, ,  106. 

Roman  legion,  229. 
Romans,  129,  208,  233,  237,  267. 
Rome,  44,  68,  147,  148,  25g,  266,  268; 

King  of,  62,  152,  153,  165,  257. 
Roncesvalles,  131. 
Rosbach,  216,  217. 

Rostoptchin, ,  157. 

Roumelia,  157. 

Rousseau,  Jean  Jacques,  244. 

Roustan, ,  50. 

Rovigo,  Due  de,  5,  7, 9, 10, 13-16,  25, 28. 

Royalists  in  France,  82-83. 

Rue  Chantereine,  244,  256;    Royale, 

104;  Saint-Honoré,  4;  Vivienne,  263. 
Russia,  67,  70,  71,  116,  120,  122,  128, 

132,  134,  137,  140,  154,  155.  157-160, 

162,  igo,  igi,  202,  204,  264;  Emperor 

of,  see  Alexander  1. 
Russians,  118,  iig,  130,  163,  187,  200, 

216,  233,  236. 


"  Saale,  "  12-15. 
Sablons,  53,  263. 
Sada,  Sheik,  72. 

Saint-Aubin, ,  31. 

Saint  Bernard,  13g;  Great,  Convent  of, 
272;  Great,  Passage  of  the,  78  (note). 
Saint-Cloud,  255,  267. 

Saint-Cyr, ,  164,  205. 

Saint-Denis,  6. 
Saint-Didier,  Madame,  262. 
Saint  Domingo,  112-113,  200. 
Saint-Germain,  6. 
St.  Gothard,  80. 


INDEX. 


291 


St.  Helena,  24,  25,  2g,  33,  no,  112,  126, 
149.  155.  157,  165,  iQi,  193,  ig6.  ig8, 
204,  246,  251,  252,  263,  265,  266. 

Saint-Jacques, ,  3. 

Saint-Jean,  Mont,  18. 

Saint-Lambert,  i8g. 

Saint  Leu,  36. 

Saint  Leu,  Duchesse  de,  see  Hor- 
tense  de  Beauharnais. 

Saint-Maixent,  10. 

St.  Petersburg,  156,  160. 

Saint-Pierre,  Bernardin  de,  268. 

St.  Stephen,  Eajjle  of,  166. 

St.  Vincent,  Lord,  246. 

Saint-Von, ,  2,  3,  8,  175. 

Sainte-Catherine,  12. 

Saintes,  8,  11. 

Salerno,  222. 

Salic  Law,  205. 

Sambre  River,  i. 

San  Miniato,  35. 

Santarem,  131. 

Saorgio,  62,  217. 

Sardinia,  King  of,  218. 

Sarrazin, ,  164. 

Satorius,  Captain,  20-22. 

Saul,  ig7. 

Saulnier,  General,  10. 

Savary,  see  Rovigo,  Due  de. 

Saxe,  Marshal,  213,  217. 

Saxons,  134,  214. 

Saxony,  120,  202;  King  of,  126,  158. 

Schérer  General,  58,  5g. 

Schonbrunn,  84. 

Schwarzenberg,  General,  134,  257. 

Schweidnitz,  230. 

Schwerin, ,  215. 

Scipio,  General,  233. 

Secretaries,  Private,  g8-gg. 

Seine  River,  87,  133,  184,  234. 

Sémonville, ,  47. 

Sénarmont,  ,  226. 

Septeuil, ,  227. 

Sévigné,  Madame  de,  250. 

Seymour,  Lady,  205. 

Shakespeare,  162. 

Sieyès,  Abbé,  51,  54,  73-75. 

Sisteron,  173. 

"Slaney,"  20. 

Smith,  Sidney,  72. 

Smolensk,  140,  157,  15g,  160,  227. 

Socrates,  271,  275,  276. 

Soliman,  68. 


Soprani, ,  248. 

Sorbier, ,  226. 

Sotin, ,  83,  84. 

Soubise,  General,  216,  217. 

Souham,  164. 

Soult,  Marshal,  2,  3,  123,  131,  163,  176, 

187,  i8g,  201. 
South  America,  144. 
Spain,  122,  123,  128,  130,  131,  144,  155, 

162,  233,  257, 258. 
Spaniards,  130,  238. 
Spanish  war,  12g. 
Staël,  Madame  de,  loi,  244,  261. 

Staps, ,  84. 

Stradella,  78,  7g,  221. 

Stupinski, ,  8,  g. 

Suard, ,  266. 

Suchet,  Marshal,  7g,  82,  17g,  185,  186, 

i8g. 

Sugny, ,  42. 

"Superb,"  21,  23. 

Sweden,  116,  120,  156,  157,  162. 

Swiss,  216. 

Switzerland,  81. 

Syria,  157,  244. 


Tacitus,  158,  266. 
Tagus  River,  131. 

Talbot, ,  183. 

Talleyrand,  42,  47,  58,  75,  8g,  go,  g4-g8, 

102,  log-iii,  123,  126,  244,  245,  278. 

Tallien, ,  47,  55;  Madame,  56,  254. 

Talma, ,  56. 

Tartars,  123,  156. 

Tasso,  3g. 

Teil,  du,  General,  42. 

"Telegraph,"  21. 

Tennis  Court,  Oath  of  the,  45. 

Thénard, ,  44. 

"Thunderer,"  26,  27. 

Ticino  River,  80,  81. 

Tilly,  General,  41,  210. 

Tilsit,  63,  124,  125,  127, 160, 163;  Treaty 

of,  122. 
Titles   conferred    by    Napoleon,  iig, 

(note). 
Torbay,  22,  27,  2g. 
Torgau,  124. 

Torres  Vedras,  Lines  of,  130. 
Toula,  15g. 
Toulon,  33,  3g,  43,  44,  50,  54,  i6g,  178- 

180,  201,  261. 


292 


INDEX. 


Toulouse,  261. 

Tours,  7,  9,  54,  88,  235. 

Tower    of    London,    see    London, 

Tower  of. 
Trafalgar,  116,  118. 

Traisnel, ,  93. 

Trianon,  246. 

Troyes,  165. 

Tuileries,  51,  52,  55,  104,  108,  109,  116, 

173, 176,  177,  269,  270. 

Tureau, ,  78-80. 

Turenne,  Marshal,  59,  210,  211,  212, 

213. 
Turin,  60,  79,  80,  213. 
Turkey,  156,  213. 
Turks,  156,  158,  268,  280. 
Tuscany,  87. 
Tyre,  208. 

U 

Ulm,  60, 117,  210,  241. 
United  States,  3,  4,  6,  17,  18,  71,  72, 
143. 184, 197. 

V 

Valen  ay,  9,  123,  129, 130. 
Valence,  39,  40;  General,  46. 
Valenciennes,  60. 
Valenza,  81. 

Valois,  Marguerite  de,  218. 
Valoutina,  43,  160. 
Vandamme,  General,  164,  186. 

Vanderberg, 86. 

Var  River,  82. 
Varennes,  46. 
Vassy,  165. 

Vatrin, ,  80. 

Veauchamps,  238. 

Vendeans,  225. 

Vendôme,  7,  9,  237. 

Venice,  151. 

Verdun,  114. 

Verona,  59. 

Versailles,  116,  227,  246,  248. 

Vicence,  Due  de,  m;  Duchesse  de, 

5-41. 
Victor,  General,  80,  227. 
Vienna,   92,    97,    133,    135,    136,    149, 

200,  202,  226,  233,  234,  254;  Congress 

of,  96. 
Villars,  Marshal,  60,  230,  237. 
Villeneuve,  .admiral,  115-118. 
Villeroy,  Duc  de,  213. 


Vincennes,  87,  [76,  234. 
Vincent,  Colonel,  113. 

Viry, ,  247. 

Visconti,  Madame,  244,  245,  247,  248. 
Vistula  River,  124,  163. 

Vital, ,  5. 

Vitebsk,  159,  160. 
Vitry,  165. 

Vittoria,  128, 129,  143,  162. 
Volney,  Comte,  269. 
Voltaire,  219,  230,  255. 
Vosges  River,  217. 

w 

Wagram,  60,  133,  210,  212. 

"  Wales,  Prince  of,"  116. 

Walewska,  Madame,  5,  245,  259. 

Wallenstein,  General,  41,  210. 

War,  The  art  of,  229-242. 

Warsaw,  154. 

Waterloo,  7,  30,  31,  143,  146,  158,  178, 

182-197,  202,  243,  245,  263,  266. 
Weights  and  measures,  86. 
Weimar,  123;  Duke  of,  123,  124. 

Wellesley, ,  204. 

Wellington,  Duke  of,  72,  94,  130,  131, 

162,  187,  igo,  267. 
West  Indies,  114,  115,  117. 
Westphalia,  119. 
Whitworth,  Lord,  114. 
Wiasma,  157,  159. 
Wilna,  154,  161. 

Wintzingerode, ,  165. 

Wittenburg,  124,  125. 
Wittgenstein,  159. 
Wormeley,  Captain,  114. 
Wright,  Captain,  109,  no. 
Wurtemberg,  King  of,  243;  Princess 

of,  i53.- 
Wurtzburg,  234. 


Xerxes,  207. 


York,  Duke  of,  60. 


Zama,  233. 
"Zephyr,''  169. 
Znaim,  134. 


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